Field H1 of Forel vs Subthalamic Nucleus Electrical Stimulation in Parkinson's Disease: Long-term Effects on Motor Symptoms and Quality of Life.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) relieves motor symptoms, including levodopa-responsive gait disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD). Traditionally, STN-DBS is not indicated to treat severe, clinically resistant axial symptoms. In this scenario, field H1 of Forel (FF) stimulation (FF-DBS) is likely a feasible option, given it improves motor symptoms, including freezing of gait (FOG), as shown by a short-term study.

Induction Therapy With Cisplatin, 5-Fluorouracil, Leucovorin, and Paclitaxel in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the toxicities and response rate of a modified TPF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil) protocol in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer (ECOG performance status ≤1).

Patients And Methods: Induction treatment consisted of cisplatin 25 mg/m/day as a 90 min infusion for three consecutive days, leucovorin 20 mg/m/day as a bolus for four consecutive days, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 370 mg/m/day as a bolus for four consecutive days, and paclitaxel 60 mg/m as a 1-h infusion on Days 1, 8, and 15, repeated every 3-4 weeks (twelve cycles to 6 patients).

Results: The main toxicities were grade 1 neuropathy, mucositis, and fatigue.

PROSPECTIVE CONTROLLED STUDY OF SPINAL SURGERY VERSUS PHYSICAL CAPACITY.

Objectives: Assess whether the spine surgical approach for degenerative diseases can influence the physical capacity of patients and its correlation with cardiorespiratory function.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 9 patients of both genders, aged between eighteen and sixty, scheduled for spinal surgery for degenerative disease in the lumbar segment. Patients underwent treadmill stress test two times, fifteen days before and sixty days after the surgery.

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES: CHARACTERISTICS, EVOLUTION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE.

Aim: Inflammatory bowel diseases present progressive and potentially debilitating characteristics with an impact on health-related quality of life (QoL) throughout the course of the disease, and this parameter may even be used as a method of evaluating response to treatment. The aim of this study was to analyze epidemiological data, medications in use, previous surgeries, and hospitalizations in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, and to determine the impairment in QoL of these patients.

Methods: This is a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study in patients with inflammatory bowel disease followed up in a tertiary hospital in São Paulo-SP, Brazil.

Subthalamic low beta bursts differ in Parkinson's disease phenotypes.

Objective: Parkinson's disease (PD) patients may be categorized into tremor-dominant (TD) and postural-instability and gait disorder (PIGD) motor phenotypes, but the dynamical aspects of subthalamic nucleus local field potentials (STN-LFP) and the neural correlates of this phenotypical classification remain unclear.

Methods: 35 STN-LFP (20 PIGD and 15 TD) were investigated through continuous wavelet transform and machine-learning-based methods. The beta oscillation - the main band associated with motor impairment in PD - dynamics was characterized through beta burst parameters across phenotypes and burst intervals under specific proposed criteria for optimal burst threshold definition.

The Potential Applications of Augmented Reality in Fetoscopic Surgery for Antenatal Treatment of Myelomeningocele.

Objective: To develop a preoperative planning method using augmented reality (AR) of a specific surgical procedure: fetoscopy for myelomeningocele repair.

Methods: Imaging data were acquired of a pregnant woman at 27 weeks of gestation whose fetus was diagnosed with myelomeningocele. The patient was identified as a candidate for fetoscopic repair of the spine defect, and an AR application for mobile device simulation was developed.

Efficacy and safety of a device used to prevent fogging and residue buildup on surgical optics during video-assisted thoracic surgical procedures (LacrimaSurg): a pilot in vivo study in 30 patients.

Introduction: Nowadays the majority of the surgical procedures are video surgeries. Despite technological advances, some problems remain. The buildup of residues in front of the lens is an example of this problem.

Surgical treatment of spinal arachnoid web: Report of two cases and literature review.

Background: Arachnoid webs (AWs) can cause cord compression and syringomyelia in the thoracic spine. Here, we describe two patients who underwent operative treatment for AW and reviewed the literature.

Case Description: Two patients underwent surgical treatment for thoracic AW.

Neurocircuitry of Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder as Revealed by Tractography: A Systematic Review.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) was proposed in 1999 to treat refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Despite the accumulated experience over more than two decades, 30-40% of patients fail to respond to this procedure. One potential reason to explain why some patients do not improve in the postoperative period is that DBS might not have engaged structural therapeutic networks that are crucial to a favorable outcome in non-responders.

The historic evolution of intracranial pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pulse pressure concepts: Two centuries of challenges.

Background: There is a consensus on the importance of monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) during neurosurgery, and this monitoring reduces mortality during procedures. Current knowledge of ICP and cerebrospinal fluid pulse pressure has been built thanks to more than two centuries of research on brain dynamics.

Methods: Articles and books were selected using the descriptors "ICP," "cerebrospinal fluid pulse," "monitoring," "Monro-Kellie doctrine," and "ICP waveform" in electronic databases PubMed, Lilacs, Science Direct, and EMBASE.

Preoperative Planning Modalities for Meningoencephalocele: New Proof of Concept.

Objective: Late surgical correction of meningoencephalocele is a rare scenario that remains challenging for surgeons. Three-dimensional models can mimic the correct anatomical relationships, and technological systems have brought advances to medicine. This study aims to present a novel preoperative planning modality that combines augmented reality with a hybrid model for complex malformation associated with late correction.

Realistic simulator for craniosynostosis endoscopic approach.

Craniosynostosis is a premature fusion of cranial sutures, and it requires surgery to decrease cranial pressure and remodel the affected areas. However, mastering these procedures requires years of supervised training. Several neurosurgical training simulators have been created to shorten the learning curve.

Intramedullary spinal schistosomiasis in a child with acute myelopathy: A case report.

Background: Neuroschistosomiasis is defined as an infection of the nervous system caused by . Neuroschistosomiasis is an important differential diagnostic consideration in pediatric patients presenting with myelopathy. Surgical excision combined with antiparasitic drugs typically provides a satisfactory outcome and often results in neurological recovery.

Spectral characteristics of subthalamic nucleus local field potentials in Parkinson's disease: Phenotype and movement matter.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is clinically heterogeneous across patients and may be classified in three motor phenotypes: tremor dominant (TD), postural instability and gait disorder (PIGD), and undetermined. Despite the significant clinical characterization of motor phenotypes, little is known about how electrophysiological data, particularly subthalamic nucleus local field potentials (STN-LFP), differ between TD and PIGD patients. This is relevant since increased STN-LFP bandpower at α-β range (8-35 Hz) is considered a potential PD biomarker and, therefore, a critical setpoint to drive adaptive deep brain stimulation.

Low-grade glioma: A rare second tumor in retinoblastoma survivors.

Retinoblastoma survivors with a germline RB1 mutation are at elevated risk for secondary (nonocular) malignancy, but their risk for low-grade glioma (LGG) is unknown. We performed a retrospective review of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the NCI databases that revealed that three of the 837 5-year survivors of hereditary retinoblastoma were diagnosed with an LGG and a fourth patient (but unilateral and without a germline mutation) was identified at another center. Retinoblastoma survivors may be at increased risk for LGG.

A hybrid simulation model for pre-operative planning of transsphenoidal encephalocele.

Congenital transsphenoidal encephalocele (CTE) surgical correction is a challenging procedure. Although rare, this anomaly, characterized with neural herniation elements, including the pituitary gland or optic pathway through the sphenoid bone with anatomical alteration, can be presented in many different ways and should be individually analyzed. Significant advances in medical technology and the 3D models may simulate the complex anatomical relations of the human body.

Prognostic factors of recurrence of malignant pleural effusion: what is the role of neoplasia progression?

Background: It is known that malignant pleural effusion (MPE) recurs rapidly, in a considerable number of patients. However, some patients do not have MPE recurrence. Since MPE is associated with an average survival of 4-7 months, accurate prediction of prognosis may help recognize patients at higher risk of pleural recurrence, aiming to individualize more intensive treatment strategies.

Development and Evaluation of Pediatric Mixed-Reality Model for Neuroendoscopic Surgical Training.

Objective: Neurosurgical training requires several years of supervised procedures and represents a long and challenging process. The development of surgical simulation platforms is essential to reducing the risk of potentially intraoperative severe errors arising from inexperience. To present and perform a phase I validation process of a mixed reality simulation (realistic and virtual simulators combined) for neuroendoscopic surgical training.

The Craniosynostosis Puzzle: New Simulation Model for Neurosurgical Training.

Background: Neurosurgical training usually requires long hours for hands-on procedures, making it difficult for inexperienced surgeons to quickly learn in an error-proof environment. The objective of this study was to propose a puzzle-like new model for neurosurgical education that simulates craniosynostosis correction (scaphocephaly type) using Renier's H technique. A model of a 3-dimensional (3D) anatomic simulator for craniosynostosis training is presented and evaluated.

Kissing Balloon Technique for Infrapopliteal Angioplasty in Patients with Critical Limb Ischemia.

Background: This study aimed to analyze the technical aspects and follow-up findings regarding patients with critical limb ischemia who underwent the kissing balloon technique (KBT).

Methods: Thirty patients (34 bifurcations) were enrolled in this retrospective analysis between September 2010 and February 2017. All patients were submitted to infrapopliteal intervention for critical limb ischemia.

Comparison of Bypass and Endovascular Intervention for Popliteal Occlusion with the Involvement of Trifurcation for Critical Limb Ischemia.

Background: The aim of this study is to analyze the technical aspects and outcomes of the treatment of occlusion of the popliteal artery with the involvement of the trifurcation treated with a bypass (open) and endovascular (endo) approach.

Methods: Overall, 108 consecutive procedures were enrolled retrospectively. Patients were evaluated in 2 groups: the endo group (65 patients) and the open group (43 patients).

Development and evaluation of a new pediatric mixed-reality model for neurosurgical training.

Objective: Craniosynostosis is a premature cranial suture junction and requires a craniectomy to decrease cranial compression and remodel the affected areas of the skull. However, mastering these neurosurgical procedures requires many years of supervised training. The use of surgical simulation can reduce the risk of intraoperative error.