Nanoscale mechanics of brain abscess: An atomic force microscopy study.

Mechanical stimuli are a fundamental player in the pathophysiology of the brain influencing its physiological development and contributing to the onset and progression of many diseases. In some pathological states, the involvement of mechanical and physical stimuli might be extremely subtle; in others, it is more evident and particularly relevant. Among the latter pathologies, one of the most serious life-threatening condition is the brain abscess (BA), a focal infection localized in the brain parenchyma, which causes large brain mechanical deformations, giving rise to a wide range of neurological impairments.

Nano-mechanical signature of brain tumours.

Glioblastoma (GBM) and meningothelial meningioma (MM) are the most frequent malignant and benign brain lesions, respectively. Mechanical cues play a major role in the progression of both malignancies that is modulated by the occurrence of aberrant physical interactions between neoplastic cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Here we investigate the nano-mechanical properties of human GBM and MM tissues by atomic force microscopy.

True Petroclival Meningiomas: Proposal of Classification and Role of the Combined Supra-Infratentorial Presigmoid Retrolabyrinthine Approach.

Background: The evolution of the surgical treatment of petroclival meningiomas (PMs) has led to a tendency to abandon complex petrous approaches and return to "less-aggressive" skull base approaches.

Objective: To propose a classification of PMs and establish the role of the combined supra-infratentorial presigmoid retrolabyrinthine (CSIPR) approach in the treatment of PMs rigorously matching the anatomical definition.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 51 cases of PMs strictly adhering to the anatomical definition who were operated on from January 1990 to December 2011.

Alterations in the intracranial venous sinuses in spontaneous nontraumatic chronic subdural hematomas.

Occlusion of the cerebral venous system is frequently associated with intraparenchymal or subarachnoid hemorrhage. There are few reports of cerebral venous thrombosis associated with nontraumatic chronic subdural hematoma (CSH). We aimed to evaluate the intracranial venous system in patients with spontaneous nontraumatic CSH and to identify alterations in their venous sinuses.

Late brain metastases from breast cancer: clinical remarks on 11 patients and review of the literature.

Aims And Background: Late brain metastases from breast cancer are a rare event. Only a few cases have been reported in the English literature. The authors describe the clinical and pathological remarks, together with treatment modalities, removal extent and overall survival, of 11 patients in whom brain metastases were detected more than 10 years from the primary tumor.