Trigeminal complications arising after surgery of cranial base meningiomas.

Chronic severe facial pain is a feared sequel of cranial base surgery. This study explores the symptomatology, incidence and impact on the individual of postoperative de novo trigeminal nerve affection as well as the recovery potential. Out of 231 patients operated for cranial base meningiomas at the Karolinska University Hospital during 7 years, 25 complained of de novo trigeminal symptoms at clinical follow-up 3 months after surgery.

Endoscopically harvested stem cells: a putative method in future autotransplantation.

Objective: The discovery of stem cells in the adult human brain and developing stem cell technology open a possible future scenario of autotransplantation, where stem cells are harvested from the patient and propagated in vitro before they are used as transplants. The objectives of this study were: 1) to investigate the feasibility of harvesting tissue containing neural stem cells by endoscopy; 2) to study the possibility of propagating and multiplying stem cells from this tissue efficiently in vitro; and 3) to examine whether the stem cells differentiate into functional neurons.

Methods: In 13 patients with hydrocephalus undergoing routine neurosurgical procedures, we used an endoscope and a 3-mm biopsy forceps (Medtronic) to harvest the small piece of the ventricular wall that is detached by the introduction of the endoscope.

Titanium mesh implantation--a method to stabilize the spine and protect the spinal cord following a multilevel laminectomy in the adult rat.

The development of clinically relevant larger spinal cord injury models is in part limited by the possibility of a widened or multilevel laminectomy causing a spinal cord injury from an unstable spine or from compression of the spinal cord by adjacent soft tissues. In the adult rat, we have developed a method to protect the spinal cord and stabilize the spinal column using a titanium mesh implant following a bilateral, multilevel lumbar laminectomy. For this purpose, bilateral and expanded L1-4 laminectomies were performed with or without the use of a titanium mesh to protect the spinal cord and stabilize the spine.

Multipotent progenitor cells from the adult human brain: neurophysiological differentiation to mature neurons.

It was long held as an axiom that new neurons are not produced in the adult human brain. More recent studies have identified multipotent cells whose progeny express glial or neuronal markers. This discovery may lead to new therapeutic strategies for CNS disorders, either by stimulating neurogenesis in vivo or by transplanting multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs) that have been propagated and differentiated in vitro.

Development of neuronal networks from single stem cells harvested from the adult human brain.

Objective: It was long held as an axiom that new neurons are not produced in the adult human brain. More recent studies, however, have identified multipotent cells whose progeny express glial or neuronal markers. This discovery may lead to new therapeutic strategies against central nervous system disorders by transplanting stem cells that have been propagated in vitro.