Visual field deficits following laser ablation of the hippocampus.

Objective: To qualify the incidence of and risk factors for visual field deficits (VFD) following laser interstitial thermal ablation (LITT) for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and to relate this to anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL).

Methods: Fifty-seven patients underwent LITT of the amygdalo-hippocampal complex (AH) for MTLE. Masks of ablation volumes, laser probe trajectories, and visual radiations (VRs) from individual subject space were transformed into standardized space using nonlinear registration.

Analysis of pediatric gunshot wounds in Houston, Texas: A social perspective.

Background: This study sought to determine the role of social factors in pediatric gunshot wounds (GSW).

Methods: We identified medical records of victims aged 0-15 years who presented to our Level 1 pediatric trauma center from 2001 to 2016.

Results: Three hundred fifty-eight children were treated between 2001 and 2016.

Cognitive disability in adult patients with brain tumors.

Cognitive dysfunction is common among patients with intracranial tumors. Most cognitive deficits are subtle, lack specificity, may mimic depression or other neurological disorders and may be recognized in retrospect by the physician. In certain cases, distinguishing between tumor recurrence and cognitive deficits that arise as a consequence of the treatment becomes challenging.

Phase-contrast cerebrospinal fluid flow magnetic resonance imaging in qualitative evaluation of patency of CSF flow pathways prior to infusion of chemotherapeutic and other agents into the fourth ventricle.

Purpose: Nuclear medicine studies have previously been utilized to assess for blockage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow prior to intraventricular chemotherapy infusions. To assess CSF flow without nuclear medicine studies, we obtained cine phase-contrast MRI sequences that assess CSF flow from the fourth ventricle down to the sacrum.

Methods: In three clinical trials, 18 patients with recurrent malignant posterior fossa tumors underwent implantation of a ventricular access device (VAD) into the fourth ventricle, either with or without simultaneous tumor resection.

The Survival Advantage of "Supratotal" Resection of Glioblastoma Using Selective Cortical Mapping and the Subpial Technique.

Background: A substantial body of evidence suggests that cytoreductive surgery is a prerequisite to prolonging survival in patients with glioblastoma (GBM).

Objective: To evaluate the safety and impact of "supratotal" resections beyond the zone of enhancement seen on magnetic resonance imaging scans, using a subpial technique.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 86 consecutive patients with primary GBM, managed by the senior author, using a subpial resection technique with or without carmustine (BCNU) wafer implantation.

Health disparities and impact on outcomes in children with primary central nervous system solid tumors.

OBJECTIVE Health disparities in access to care, early detection, and survival exist among adult patients with cancer. However, there have been few reports assessing how health disparities impact pediatric patients with malignancies. The objective in this study was to examine the impact of racial/ethnic and social factors on disease presentation and outcome for children with primary CNS solid tumors.

Hydrocephalus in patients with closed neural tube defects.

Background: Hydrocephalus is common in patients with open neural tube defects (NTDs), but association with closed NTDs has rarely been reported. We describe three patients with untreated closed NTDs who required surgery for hydrocephalus.

Case Reports: Case 1: A full-term newborn presented with a skin-covered midline lumbar spine lipoma.

Successful treatment of hyperphagia by resection of a hypothalamic hamartoma.

Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) are benign lesions that are often associated with central precocious puberty and may present with gelastic seizures. Treatment modalities for HH include medical therapy with long-term gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs or resection. The authors report the case of a 7-year-old girl who was diagnosed with an HH due to precocious puberty and was treated medically with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog for 3 years.

Endoscopic choroid plexus coagulation in infants with hydranencephaly or hydrocephalus with a minimal cortical mantle.

Background/aims: This study evaluates endoscopic choroid plexus coagulation, in conjunction with third ventriculostomy when technically feasible, as a strategy to treat patients with hydranencephaly or hydrocephalus with a minimal cortical mantle.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with hydranencephaly (n = 4) or hydrocephalus with the cortical mantle <1 cm in maximal thickness (n = 4) who underwent endoscopic choroid plexus coagulation from 2007 to 2010. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy was performed simultaneously when technically feasible (in 3 of 8 patients).

Artifact quantification and tractography from 3T MRI after placement of aneurysm clips in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients.

Background: The application of advanced 3T MRI imaging techniques to study recovery after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is complicated by the presence of image artifacts produced by implanted aneurysm clips. To characterize the effect of these artifacts on image quality, we sought to: 1) quantify extent of image artifact in SAH patients with implanted aneurysm clips across a range of MR sequences typically used in studies of volumetry, blood oxygen level dependent signal change (BOLD-fMRI), and diffusion-weighted imaging (DW-MRI) and 2) to explore the ability to reconstruct white matter pathways in these patients.

Methods: T1- and T2-weighted structural, BOLD-fMRI, and DW-MRI scans were acquired at 3T in two patients with titanium alloy clips in ACOM and left ACA respectively.