A Cost Utility Analysis of Minimally Invasive Surgery with Thrombolysis Compared to Standard Medical Treatment in Spontaneous Intracerebral Haemorrhagic Stroke.

OBJECTIVES: Standard medical management of spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and surgical hematoma evacuation starkly differ, and whilst landmark randomised control trials report no clinical benefit of early surgical evacuation compared with medical treatment in supratentorial ICH, minimally invasive surgery (MIS) with thrombolysis has been neglected within these studies. However, recent technological advancements in MIS have renewed interest in the surgical treatment of ICH. Several economic evaluations have focused on the benefits of MIS in ischaemic stroke management, but no economic evaluations have yet been performed comparing MIS to standard medical treatment for ICH. MATERIALS AND METHOD: All costs were sourced from the UK in GBP. Where possible, the 2019/2020 NHS reference costs were used. The MISTIE III study was used to analyse the outcomes of patients undergoing either MIS or standard medical treatment in this economic evaluation. RESULTS: The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for MIS was £485,240.26 for every quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Although MIS resulted in a higher QALY compared to medical treatment, the gain was insignificant at 0.011 QALY. Four sensitivity analyses based on combinations of alternative EQ-5D values and categorisation of MIS outcomes, alongside alterations to the cost of significant adverse events, were performed to check the robustness of the ICER calculation. The most realistic sensitivity analysis showed a potential increase in cost effectiveness when clot size is reduced to <15ml, with the ICER falling to £74,335.57. DISCUSSION: From the perspective of the NHS, MIS with thrombolysis is not cost-effective compared to optimal medical treatment. ICER shows that intention-to-treat MIS would require a cost of £485,240.26 to gain one extra QALY, which is significantly above the NHS threshold of £30,000. Further UK studies with ICH survivor utilities, more replicable surgical technique, and the reporting of clot size reduction are indicated as the present sensitivity analysis suggests that MIS is promising. Greater detail about outcomes and complications would ensure improved cost-benefit analyses and support valid and efficient allocation of resources by the NHS.

From global campaign to global commitment: The World Health Assembly's Resolution on epilepsy.

Tuesday May 26, 2015, will be remembered as an historic day in the fight against epilepsy. On that date, the World Health Assembly approved unanimously the Resolution on the "Global Burden of Epilepsy and the Need for Coordinated Action at the Country Level to Address its Health, Social and Public Knowledge Implications," which urges Member States to implement a coordinated action against epilepsy and its consequences. This event, which comes almost 20 years after the establishment of the Global Campaign against Epilepsy, is another landmark in the longstanding collaboration among the World Health Organization (WHO), the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) in addressing the needs of people with epilepsy. It also acted as a catalyst for other professional societies, including the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), to join forces in promoting a common action against epilepsy. The Resolution did not happen by chance, but came at the end of a long journey that involved the hard and tireless work of many dedicated individuals around the globe.

Brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a common Zoonosis affecting half a million people annually. The most common mode of infection is by consuming unpasteurized milk or milk products. The general manifestations are those of fever with generalized symptoms. The nervous system is affected in 4-7% of cases. The manifestations are protean and include meningo-encephalitis as well as peripheral nervous system involvement. The diagnosis relies on culture, which is cumbersome and can be falsely negative. Agglutination tests for the various species of the organism are the mainstay for diagnosis. Treatment is for 3-6 months with combination therapy including Doxycycline, Rifampicin and ceftriaxone. The main issue is prevention and better animal husbandry.

Neuroscience research in Africa: Current status.

There are limited data on the contribution of the African continent to neuroscience research and publications. This review aims to provide a clear view on the state of neuroscience research among African countries, and to compare neuroscience research within the 52 African countries. A literature review search was conducted for all published articles by African authors in both local and international journals using Medline and other primary databases. Neuroscience represents 9.1% of the total medical publications. The highest percentage of neuroscience publications comes from South Africa. There is a positive correlation between the Gross Domestic Product and the total number of neuroscience publications among African countries. There is therefore an urgent need to develop strategies to improve neuroscience research in African countries.

Functional disorders in the Neurology section of ICD-11: A landmark opportunity.

Functional disorders are one of the most common diagnoses in neurologic practice, but this is not reflected in current classification systems. The 11th revision of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2017 offers an opportunity for these disorders to appear within both neurologic and psychiatric categories for the first time. We discuss the rationale for this proposal and highlight the potential benefits for health professionals and patients.

International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and neurologic disorders: the future.

When the WHO's Topic Advisory Group for Neurology (TAG) started work on revision of the ICD-10 diagnostic codes in June 2009, the issues were daunting. The existing classification was produced a generation ago and the need to move to the digital age was becoming imperative. Appreciating modern advances in genetics and immunology, and the consequent changes in understanding of the pathophysiology of disorders of the nervous system, WHO's charge to the TAG was to produce a comprehensive, up-to-date disease classification, while providing published or consensus evidence for each coding change. In addition, the task would be to focus on ways to reduce the treatment gap while considering the utility of ICD-11 when used in primary care and nonspecialist settings. The project mushroomed over the 3 years since our first meeting and continues to do so. The work was made even more difficult as the group needed to add "content models" for the major codes for the first time (i.e., providing a definition for each disorder, along with appropriate diagnostic tests and outcome). The ICD-11 is meant to be updated as new knowledge develops, rather than waiting some years for another whole-scale revision, but this process has yet to be defined.

The neurology map of the Arab world.

The Arab world covers a large geographical area over two continents, Africa and Asia and includes 23 countries ranging from low-to-high income. The estimated total population of the Arab world was around 318 million in 2005 and is projected to increase to 480 million in 2030. The percentage of people above the age of 60 will change from an average of 5.1% of the population in 2005 to 10.5% in 2030 with an increase in life expectancy from 68.2 years to 73.4 years. This will have a major effect on the burden of neurological diseases in the region. This article aims to review the available literature on the neurological supply and demand in the Arab countries and draws attention to the gaps in knowledge on the subject.