Persistent or permanent atrial fibrillation is associated with severe cardioembolic stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Background: Little is known about the difference in the severity of cardioembolic (CE) stroke between patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and persistent/permanent AF (PerAF). We assessed stroke severity in patients with CE stroke divided by the type of AF.

Methods: Three hundred and fifty-eight consecutive patients with CE stroke within 48 h of onset and with a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score ≤ 1 before onset were studied.

[Temporal Profiles of Neuroimaging Features of Non-haemorrhagic and Non-ischemic Vertebral Artery Dissections for Conservative Treatment].

Most patients with non-hemorrhagic and non-ischemic vertebral artery dissections(VADs)are likely to recover with good outcomes. In contrast, some cases of uneventful outcomes have also been reported. Therefore, whether surgical treatment or prolonged follow-up should be utilized for each case remains controversial.

Unruptured Saccular Aneurysm Arising from the Fenestrated A1 Segment of the Anterior Cerebral Artery: Report of 2 Cases.

Some cases of aneurysms originating from the fenestrated A1 segment of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) have been reported, but the pitfalls of the surgical procedure have not been well determined. We herein report 2 cases of a saccular aneurysm arising from the fenestrated A1 segment. Case 1 was a 72-year-old man incidentally diagnosed with an unruptured left ACA aneurysm on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Expression of CD133 as a Putative Prognostic Biomarker to Predict Intracranial Dissemination of Primary Spinal Cord Astrocytoma.

Objective: Spinal cord astrocytoma with intracranial dissemination carries a poor prognosis. The mechanisms leading to dissemination remain to be elucidated. A stem cell marker, CD133, was reported to predict recurrence patterns in intracranial glioblastoma.

Microvascular decompression for intractable singultus.

Intractable singultus due to cerebrovascular disease is very rare. We report a case of intractable singultus that improved after microvascular decompression and present a literature review. The patient was a 58-year-old man with a 30-year history of persistent singultus.

A Dissecting Aneurysm of the Distal Medial Lenticulostriate Artery: Case Report.

Background: Medial lenticulostriate artery (MLSA) aneurysms are rare; to our knowledge, only 2 cases without an association with moyamoya disease have been documented. We treated a ruptured dissecting aneurysm of the distal MLSA surgically using a tube retractor.

Case Description: A 66-year-old woman suffered a sudden-onset disturbance in consciousness.

Peri-tumoral leakage during intra-tumoral convection-enhanced delivery has implications for efficacy of peri-tumoral infusion before removal of tumor.

In cases of malignant brain tumors, infiltrating tumor cells that exist at the tumor-surrounding brain tissue always escape from cytoreductive surgery and, protected by blood-brain barrier (BBB), survive the adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, eventually leading to tumor recurrence. Local interstitial delivery of chemotherapeutic agents is a promising strategy to target these cells. During our effort to develop effective drug delivery methods by intra-tumoral infusion of chemotherapeutic agents, we found consistent pattern of leakage from the tumor.

Safety and feasibility of convection-enhanced delivery of nimustine hydrochloride co-infused with free gadolinium for real-time monitoring in the primate brain.

Objectives: Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) has been developed as an effective drug-delivery strategy for brain tumors. Ideally, direct visualization of the tissue distribution of drugs infused by CED would assure successful delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain tumor while minimizing exposure of the normal brain tissue. We previously showed the anti-tumor efficacy of nimustine hydrochloride (ACNU) delivered via CED against a rodent intracranial xenografted tumor model.

Local convection-enhanced delivery of chemotherapeutic agent transiently opens blood-brain barrier and improves efficacy of systemic chemotherapy in intracranial xenograft tumor model.

Recently, local chemotherapy proved its efficacy against malignant gliomas. Under the hypothesis that local delivery of chemotherapeutic agents into the brain parenchyma induce opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), we evaluated the opening of BBB after convection-enhanced delivery of nimustine hydrochloride into the brain parenchyma. Local convection-enhanced delivery of nimustine hydrochloride transiently opened the BBB from about 7-12 days after delivery in normal rodent brain.

Early detection of venous thromboembolism in patients with neuroepithelial tumor: efficacy of screening with serum D-dimer measurements and Doppler ultrasonography.

The efficacy of combined serum D-dimer level measurement and Doppler ultrasonography of the lower extremity was investigated for screening of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with neuroepithelial tumor. Eighty-one patients with neuroepithelial tumor were prospectively studied. All patients underwent measurement of serum D-dimer levels and Doppler ultrasonography of the lower extremity.

Analysis of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in Japanese glioma patients.

A recent study reported on mutations in the active site of the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) gene in several types of gliomas. All mutations detected resulted in an amino acid exchange at position 132. We analyzed the genomic region spanning wild-type R132 of IDH1 by direct sequencing in 125 glial tumors.

[Primary yolk sac tumor in the cerebellar vermis. Case report].

A 2-year-old boy presented with gait disturbance and limb ataxia. T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid administration showed a heterogeneously enhanced mass lesion with a cystic component in the cerebellar vermis. The minimum apparent diffusion coefficient value of the lesion was 1.