Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of PU/PLDL Sponges Intended for Grafting Injured Spinal Cord.

Highly porous, elastic, and degradable polyurethane and polyurethane/polylactide (PU/PLDL) sponges, in various shapes and sizes, with open interconnected pores, and porosity up to 90% have been manufactured. They have been intended for gap filling in the injured spinal cord. The porosity of the sponges depended on the content of polylactide, i.

Changes in the level of cardiac troponine and disorders in pulmonary gas exchange as predictors of short- and long-term outcomes of patients with aneurysm subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Subject: Cardiopulmonary abnormalities are common after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH). However, the relationship between short- and long-term outcome is poorly understood. In this paper, we present how cardiac troponine elevations (cTnI) and pulmonary disorders are associated with short- and long-term outcomes assessed by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE).

Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: Surgery Still Safe as a Treatment Option.

Background: Despite a number of studies on the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA), the optimal method still remains unclear.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to demonstrate that UIA clipping is a safe procedure and can be a good alternative for patients not qualified for endovascular procedures and who have refused conservative management.

Material And Methods: Results were gathered from a sample of 104 patients with UIA treated in our facility over a 9-year period starting January 2005.

Lizard tail spinal cord: a new experimental model of spinal cord injury without limb paralysis.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a well-known devastating lesion that sadly is very resistant to all treatment attempts. This fact has stimulated the exploration of multiple regenerative strategies that are examined at both the basic and clinical level. For laboratory research, differentin vivomodels are used, but each has many important limitations.

Aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage: who remains for surgical treatment in the post-ISAT era?

Introduction: Although there have been a number of studies on changes and trends in the management of aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) since publication of the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT), no data exist on what category of patients still remains for surgical treatment. Our goal was to investigate the changes that occurred in the characteristics of a population of aSAH patients treated surgically in the post-ISAT period in a single neurosurgical center, with limited availability of endovascular service.

Material And Methods: The study included 402 aSAH patients treated surgically in our unit between January 2004 and December 2011.

Obtaining the olfactory bulb as a source of olfactory ensheathing cells with the use of minimally invasive neuroendoscopy-assisted supraorbital keyhole approach--cadaveric feasibility study.

Background: Obtaining the human olfactory bulb (OB) for treatment of spinal cord injuries with olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) requires the elaboration of a surgical approach that could meet the criteria of safety and minimal invasiveness. The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of the keyhole supraorbital craniotomy (SOC) with an eyebrow incision for obtaining OB for therapeutic purposes.

Methods: Seventeen SOCs were performed on nine fresh adult cadavers.

Functional regeneration of supraspinal connections in a patient with transected spinal cord following transplantation of bulbar olfactory ensheathing cells with peripheral nerve bridging.

Treatment of patients sustaining a complete spinal cord injury remains an unsolved clinical problem because of the lack of spontaneous regeneration of injured central axons. A 38-year-old man sustained traumatic transection of the thoracic spinal cord at upper vertebral level Th9. At 21 months after injury, the patient presented symptoms of a clinically complete spinal cord injury (American Spinal Injury Association class A-ASIA A).

Biomechanical characteristics of the porcine denticulate ligament in different vertebral levels of the cervical spine-preliminary results of an experimental study.

Background: Few studies exist on the mechanical properties of denticulate ligaments and none report the variation in these properties at different levels of the spine. The aim of this study was to perform an experimental determination of load-extension and stress-strain characteristics of the denticulate ligament and to establish if their properties change at different vertebral levels of the cervical spine.

Method: The study was carried out on a total of 98 porcine denticulate ligament samples dissected from seven fresh porcine cervical spinal cord specimens.

Recovery and quality of life in patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms.

Purpose: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) secondary to ruptured cerebral aneurysm is a common and frequently devastating condition with a high mortality and morbidity among survivors. The purpose of this study was to conduct a long-term follow-up of SAH patients, assess the changes in functional outcomes, describe quality of life (QOL), and determine its predictors 3.6 years after the hemorrhage.

Transplantation of autologous olfactory ensheathing cells in complete human spinal cord injury.

Numerous studies in animals have shown the unique property of olfactory ensheathing cells to stimulate regeneration of lesioned axons in the spinal cord. In a Phase I clinical trial, we assessed the safety and feasibility of transplantation of autologous mucosal olfactory ensheathing cells and olfactory nerve fibroblasts in patients with complete spinal cord injury. Six patients with chronic thoracic paraplegia (American Spinal Injury Association class A-ASIA A) were enrolled for the study.

Surgical management in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The outcomes in the paradigm shift period.

Background: The treatment of cerebral aneurysms has undergone significant evolution since the 1990s when the endovascular methods were introduced. After the results of ISAT were published in 2002, a change in practice occurred which resulted in more ruptured aneurysms treated endovascularly rather than by surgical clipping. This change in practice was referred to as a paradigm shift.

Influence of calcium alginate on peripheral nerve regeneration: in vivo study.

Recently, we described the influence of sodium alginate on the inflammatory infiltrate during neuroregeneration in tube nerve grafts. It was noticeable that there was the coexistence of inflammatory cells, including neutrophils, plasma cells, and macrophages with Schwann cells and axons. This may indicate a beneficial interaction between alginates and the infiltrate and the additional beneficial effect of the cells on the neuroregeneration process in the inflammatory infiltrates.

The supraorbital keyhole approach via an eyebrow incision applied to obtain the olfactory bulb as a source of olfactory ensheathing cells--radiological feasibility study.

BACKGROUND. The purpose of the study was to test the suitability of supraorbital keyhole craniotomy with an eyebrow incision for obtaining olfactory bulb for therapeutic purposes. METHODS.

Usefulness of intraoperative magnetic resonance ventriculography during endoscopic third ventriculostomy.

Background: Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is the preferred method for the treatment of noncommunicating hydrocephalus. The different success rates of ETV indicate the difficulties in predicting the success of this procedure.

Objective: To show the usefulness of intraoperative ventriculography performed by the low-field 0.

Usefulness of perfusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging with signal-intensity curves analysis in the differential diagnosis of sellar and parasellar tumors: preliminary report.

Purpose: The most common pituitary tumors are adenomas, which however may be mimicked by other tumors that can show a very similar appearance in plain MRI. The aim of our study was to evaluate the usefulness of perfusion weighted MR imaging (PWI), including signal-intensity curves analysis in the differential diagnosis of sellar/parasellar tumors.

Methods: Forty-one patients with sellar/parasellar tumors (23 macroadenomas, 10 meningiomas, 5 craniopharyngiomas, 1 intrasellar hemangioblastoma, 1 intrasellar prostate cancer metastasis, 1 suprasellar glioma), underwent plain MRI followed by PWI using a 1.

Finite element modelling of the cervical spinal cord injury -- clinical assessment.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of Finite Element Method (FEM) modelling of the clinical cases of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). The study population consisted of 28 patients suffering from traumatic cervical spine injury with (study group) and without (control) neurological deficits. A numerical simulation of the trauma event was performed, based on validated 3D FEM model.

Surgical treatment of pituitary adenomas using low-field intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) is a new technique for imaging of the brain and is used with increasing frequency during neurosurgical operations, enabling the surgeon to make decisions based on real-time images.

Objectives: This paper presents the technique for the surgical treatment of pituitary adenomas using low-field iMRI, evaluates the safety of iMRI usage in pituitary surgery and examines the influence of iMRI on the extent of tumor removal.

Material And Methods: From October 2008 to December 2010, 18 patients were treated for pituitary adenomas using the low-field iMRI system Polestar N20.

Assessment of cerebral blood flow during infusion test in the diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Background: Many studies indicate that the increase in intracranial pressure (ICP) leads to cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) changes. This relationship was accurately determined in patients with traumatic brain injury,

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine how the changes in intracranial pressure induced during an infusion test influence cerebral blood flow.

Material And Methods: 40 patients with enlarged ventricular systems (Evan's ratio > 30%) who underwent a diagnostic lumbar infusion test (LIT) were included.

Assessment of in vivo behavior of polymer tube nerve grafts simultaneously with the peripheral nerve regeneration process using scanning electron microscopy technique.

In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been applied for instantaneous assessment of processes occurring at the site of regenerating nerve. The technique proved to be especially useful when an artificial implant should have been observed but have not yet been extensively investigated before for assessment of nerve tissue. For in vivo studies, evaluation of implant's morphology and its neuroregenerative properties is of great importance when new prototype is developed.

Mechanical properties of cervical dura mater.

The aim of the study was to determine experimentally the stress as strain function as well as the orthotropy and heterogeneity of porcine dura mater of the cervical spinal cord. Material was divided into groups based on the place of collection, considering the dorsal side and ventral side, specifying the number of cervical vertebra, and the direction of tension of the sample - longitudinal or circumferential. Experimental studies were conducted with the MTS Synergie 100 testing machine.

Intraoperative magnetic resonance-guided frameless stereotactic biopsies - initial clinical experience.

Background And Purpose: We present our early experience in intraoperative magnetic resonance (iMRI)-guided stereotactic frameless biopsies with special regard to its safety, efficacy and diagnostic value.

Material And Methods: The records of patients who underwent frameless stereotactic iMRI-guided biopsies between June 2009 and April 2011 were analysed prospectively. All the operations were performed under local anaesthesia, with the use of a passive side-cutting biopsy needle.

Numerical model of the human cervical spinal cord--the development and validation.

The influence of mechanical load on the extent of nervous tissue damage in the spinal cord at the time of trauma is presently incontestable. Although numerical modelling cannot fully replace physical testing, it seems to be the perfect complement to experiments in terms of the analysis of such a complex phenomenon as traumatic spinal cord injury. Previous numerical models of the human cervical spinal cord have been limited by several factors: two-dimensional modelling, spinal cord geometry simplification and incomplete reflection of specific anatomical and biomechanical relations of the objects being modelled.

Bilateral chronic subdural haematomas in a patient with meningioma of the superior sagittal sinus - case report and pathophysiological study.

Bilateral chronic subdural haemorrhage accompanying meningioma is a very rare clinical condition. We present a case of a 69-year-old female patient with large meningioma completely obliterating the posterior third part of the superior sagittal sinus with accompanying bilateral chronic subdural haematomas. Three anatomical zones of venous collateral circulation were revealed by the preoperative digital subtraction angiography.

Prospective study on the efficacy of low-field intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging in neurosurgical operations.

Background And Purpose: The application of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) is related to a series of challenges of both a technical and an organizational nature. We present our experience in the application of low-field iMRI in everyday neurosurgical practice.

Material And Methods: A group of 58 patients operated on using low-field iMRI was subject to prospective controlled observation.