An Analysis of Publication Productivity During Residency for 1506 Neurosurgical Residents and 117 Residency Departments in North America.

BACKGROUND: Bibliometrics is defined as the study of statistical and mathematical methods used to quantitatively analyze scientific literature. The application of bibliometrics in neurosurgery continues to evolve. OBJECTIVE: To calculate a number of publication productivity measures for almost all neurosurgical residents and departments within North America. These measures were correlated with survey results on the educational environment within residency programs. METHODS: During May to June 2017, data were collected from departmental websites and Scopus to compose a bibliometric database of neurosurgical residents and residency programs. Data related to authorship value and study content were collected on all articles published by residents. A survey of residency program research and educational environment was administered to program directors and coordinators; results were compared with resident academic productivity. RESULTS: The median number of publications in residency was 3; median h-index and Resident index were 1 and 0.17 during residency, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in academic productivity among male neurosurgical residents compared with females. The majority of articles published were tier 1 clinical articles. Residency program research support was significantly associated with increased resident productivity (P < .001). Scholarly activity requirements were not associated with increased resident academic productivity. CONCLUSION: This study represents the most comprehensive bibliometric assessment of neurosurgical resident academic productivity during training to date. New benchmarks for individual and department academic productivity are provided. A supportive research environment for neurosurgical residents is associated with increased academic productivity, but a scholarly activity requirement was, surprisingly, not shown to have a positive effect.

Chemical venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in neurosurgical patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common and potentially life-threatening complication. The risk of serious hemorrhagic complications when starting chemical prophylaxis for VTE prevention is a substantial concern for neurosurgeons. The objective of this study was to perform an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to determine if the rates of VTE and bleeding complications are different in patients undergoing chemoprophylaxis compared with placebo or mechanical prophylaxis alone following cranial or spinal procedures. METHODS: In February 2016 a systematic literature review was performed identifying 3944 articles from 4 different databases. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed after identifying the articles that met inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Nine articles that met the inclusion criteria were included. The quality of the studies was good, with all of them being classified as Level 2 evidence, with moderate Jadad scores. A meta-analysis comparing chemoprophylaxis with placebo in the prevention of deep venous thrombosis showed a significant benefit to chemical prophylaxis (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.37-0.71; p < 0.0001). No significant increase in major intracranial hemorrhage (p = 0.60), major extracranial hemorrhage (p = 0.98), or minor bleeding complications (p = 0.60) was found. CONCLUSIONS: Based on moderate-to-good quality of evidence, chemoprophylaxis is beneficial in preventing VTE, with no significant increase in either major or minor bleeding complications in patients undergoing cranial and spinal procedures. Further research is needed to determine whether this conclusion holds true for more specific subpopulations.

The use of lumbar drains in preventing spinal cord injury following thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE Paraplegia and paraparesis following aortic aneurysm repair occur at a substantially high rate and are often catastrophic to patients, their families, and the overall health care system. Spinal cord injury (SCI) following open thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair is reported to be as high as 20% in historical controls. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of CSF drainage (CSFD) on SCI following TAAA repair. METHODS In August 2015 a systematic literature search was performed using clinicaltrials.gov , the Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Scopus that identified 3478 articles. Of these articles, 10 met inclusion criteria. Random and fixed-effect meta-analyses were performed using both pooled and subset analyses based on study type. RESULTS The meta-analysis demonstrated that CSFD decreased SCI by nearly half (relative risk 0.42, 95% confidence interval 0.25-0.70; p = 0.0009) in the pooled analysis. This effect remained in the subgroup analysis of early SCI but did not remain significant in late SCI. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis showed that CSFD could be an effective strategy in preventing SCI following aortic aneurysm repair. Care should be taken to prevent complications related to overdrainage. No firm conclusions can be drawn about the newer endovascular procedures at the current time.

Surgical Outcomes for Minimally Invasive vs Open Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF)-or MI-TLIF-has been increasing in prevalence compared with open TLIF (O-TLIF) procedures. The use of MI-TLIF is an evolving technique with conflicting reports in the literature about outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of MI-TLIF in comparison with O-TLIF for early and late outcomes by using the Visual Analog Scale for back pain (VAS-back) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Secondary end points include blood loss, operative time, radiation exposure, length of stay, fusion rates, and complications between the 2 procedures. METHODS: During August 2014, a systematic literature search was performed identifying 987 articles. Of these, 30 met inclusion criteria. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed by using both pooled and subset analyses based on study type. RESULTS: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that MI-TLIF reduced blood loss (P < .001), length of stay (P < .001), and complications (P = .001) but increased radiation exposure (P < .001). No differences were found in fusion rate (P = .61) and operative time (P = .34). A decrease in late VAS-back scores was demonstrated for MI TLIF (P < .001), but no differences were found in early VAS-back, early ODI, and late ODI. CONCLUSION: MI-TLIF is associated with reduced blood loss, decreased length of stay, decreased complication rates, and increased radiation exposure. The rates of fusion and operative time are similar between MI-TLIF and O-TLIF. Differences in long-term outcomes in MI-TLIF vs O-TLIF are inconclusive and require more research, particularly in the form of large, multi-institutional prospective randomized controlled trials. ABBREVIATIONS: CI, confidence intervalMCID, minimal clinically important differenceMI-TLIF, minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusionODI, Oswestry Disability IndexO-TLIF, open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusionVAS, Visual Analog Scale.

Fibro-osseous lesion of the cranium in an adolescent patient.

BACKGROUND: Fibrous dysplasia, ossifying fibroma, and desmoplastic fibroma are rare benign calvarial lesions, which can have local aggressive behavior. These tumors can present with similar clinical and radiologic characteristics making diagnosis difficult at times. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 16-year-old male presents after noting an indentation of his skull. Comparison with current and previous imaging revealed progressive erosion of the skull underlying the indentation. CONCLUSION: Fibrous dysplasia, ossifying fibroma, and desmoplastic fibroma are rare fibro-osseous tumors with similar characteristics radiographically. Accurate diagnosis of these tumors can be difficult even with the combination of clinical presentation, imaging, and pathology. The treatment of choice is resection and cranial reconstruction, if necessary, with close follow-up as recurrence can occur.

Cranial and spinal oligodendrogliomatosis: a case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Oligodendrogliomatosis is a rarely reported entity in literature associated with poor prognosis in terms of length and quality of life. In this paper, we describe oligodendrogliomatosis in a 15-year-old male who initially presented with altered mental status due to diabetic ketoacidosis. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: He was refractory to temozolomide initially but demonstrated disease regression with radiotherapy (XRT). More recently, he has had disease recurrence, which was stabilized with temozolomide therapy for a period of time. CONCLUSION: Contrary to most reports in literature, our patient has had excellent quality of life since his initial diagnosis and continues to carry good prognosis. In addition to oligodendrogliomatosis, our patient also developed multiple intracranial cavernomas secondary to radiation therapy, which have remained stable and asymptomatic.

Highly cited works in skull base neurosurgery.

OBJECTIVE: Citation analysis can be used to evaluate an article's impact on its discipline. This study characterizes the most-cited articles related to skull base surgery. METHODS: The 100 most-cited skull base neurosurgery articles in all journals were examined. A separate listing of the top 100 most-cited articles in dedicated skull base journals was also examined. The following information was recorded for each article: number of authors, country of origin, citation-count adjusted for number of years in print, topic, and level of evidence. RESULTS: The 100 overall most-cited articles appeared in 25 journals. The top 100 most-cited articles in dedicated skull base journals appeared in 3 journals. Publication dates ranged from 1965-2006 for the overall list and 1993-2010 for the dedicated skull base list. Citations ranged from 11-59 (mean, 19) for the dedicated skull base list and 115-487 for the overall list (mean, 175). The average time-adjusted citation count was 8.4 for the overall list and 2 for the dedicated skull base journal list. CONCLUSIONS: An original article in a nondedicated skull base journal related to the subspecialty of skull base with a citation count of 150 or more and time-adjusted citation count of 10 can be considered a high-impact publication. An original article in a dedicated skull base periodical having a total citation count of 20 or more and an average citation count of 2 per year or more can be considered a high impact publication.

Fibrinolysis for intraventricular hemorrhage: an updated meta-analysis and systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intraventricular hemorrhage is associated with high mortality and poor functional outcome. The use of intraventricular fibrinolytic (IVF) therapy as an intervention in intraventricular hemorrhage is an evolving therapy with conflicting reports in the literature. The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of IVF on mortality, functional outcome, ventriculitis, shunt dependence, and rehemorrhage. METHODS: During March and April 2014, a systematic literature search was performed identifying 1359 articles. Of these, 24 met inclusion criteria. A random effects meta-analysis was performed using both pooled and subset analysis based on study type. RESULTS: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that IVF reduced mortality in intraventricular hemorrhage by nearly half (relative risk [RR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42-0.71; P<0.00001), increased the likelihood of good functional outcome by 66% (RR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.27-2.19; P=0.0003), and also decreased the rate of shunt dependence (RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.42-0.93; P=0.02). IVF was not found to be associated with increased rates of ventriculitis (RR=1.46; 95% CI, 0.77-2.76; P=0.25) or rehemorrhage (RR=1.06; 95% CI, 0.66-1.70; P=0.80). We detected no evidence of publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis showed that IVF is safe and could be an effective strategy for the treatment of intraventricular hemorrhage. It may reduce mortality, improve functional outcome, and diminish the need for permanent ventricular shunting, while not increasing the risk of ventriculitis or rehemorrhage.