Background: Currently available simulators are supposed to allow young neurosurgeons to hone their technical skills in a safe environment, without causing any unnecessary harm to their patients caused by their inexperience. For this training method to be largely accepted in neurosurgery, it is necessary to prove simulation efficacy by means of large-scale clinical validation studies.
Methods: We correlated and analysed the performance at a simulator and the actual operative skills of different neurosurgeons (construct validity). We conducted a study involving 92 residents and attending neurosurgeons from different European Centres; each participant had to perform a virtual task, namely the placement of an external ventricular drain (EVD) at a neurosurgical simulator (ImmersiveTouch). The number of attempts needed to reach the ventricles and the accuracy in positioning the catheter were assessed.
Results: Data suggests a positive correlation between subjects who placed more EVDs in the previous year and those who get better scores at the simulator (p = .008) (fewer attempts and better surgical accuracy). The number of attempts to reach the ventricle was also analysed; senior residents needed fewer attempts (mean = 2.26; SD = 1.11) than junior residents (mean = 3.12; SD = 1.05) (p = .007) and staff neurosurgeons (mean = 2.89, SD = 1.23). Scoring results were compared by using the Fisher's test, for the analysis of the variances, and the Student's T test. Surprisingly, having a wider surgical experience overall does not correlate with the best performance at the simulator.
Conclusion: The performance of an EVD placement on a simulator correlates with the density of the neurosurgical experience for that specific task performed in the OR, suggesting that simulators are able to differentiate neurosurgeons according to their surgical ability. Namely this suggests that the simulation performance reflects the surgeons' consistency in placing EVDs in the last year.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00701-018-3676-8 | DOI Listing |
Am J Crit Care
January 2025
Mona N. Bahouth is medical director, Brain Rescue Unit and an associate professor of neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Background: Therapeutic activity after stroke is a component of early recovery strategies. Interactive video games have been shown to be safe as an adjunct rehabilitation therapy in the medical intensive care setting, but patients with neurologic disease were often excluded from those protocols.
Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of individualized interactive video game therapy in critically ill neurologic patients.
Pacing Clin Electrophysiol
December 2024
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Introduction: Ultrasound (US)-guided axillary vein puncture is a safe and effective approach for cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation, and it is highly recommended by the current consensus document. However, only reports on small populations are available in the current literature regarding the comparison of this technique with other traditional approaches (subclavian vein blind puncture and cephalic vein surgical cutdown).
Purpose: We aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of US- guided axillary vein puncture using a microintroducer kit for CIED implantation as compared to the aforementioned traditional approaches.
J Cardiothorac Surg
December 2024
Beijing Children's Hospital Capital Medical University Beijing, Beijing, China.
Objective: Berry syndrome is a group of rare congenital cardiac malformations including aortopulmonary window (APW), aortic origin of the right pulmonary artery (AORPA), interruption of the aortic arch (IAA), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) (supplying the descending aorta) and intact ventricular septum. This paper will analyze the clinical data of 7 patients with Berry syndrome who underwent surgical treatment in our institution and discuss the one-stage surgical correction of Berry syndrome in combination with the literature.
Methods: From January 2013 to July 2024, a total of 7 children with Berry syndrome were admitted to the Cardiac Surgery Department of Beijing Children's Hospital.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth
December 2024
Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Shangcai village, Ouhai District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.
Background: We aim to develop a model to predict the probability of tonic-clonic seizures in women with epilepsy (WWE) at any point during pregnancy until six weeks postpartum.
Methods: We conducted a screening of patients diagnosed with epilepsy and who were pregnant, at a tertiary hospital in China, during the period of 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2020. We then followed up with these patients for at least one year postpartum.
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