The Woven EndoBridge device for ruptured intracranial aneurysms: international multicenter experience and updated meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: The Woven EndoBridge (WEB) can be used to treat wide-necked aneurysms without antiplatelet medications, suggesting it may have advantages in the setting of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). The goal was assessment of safety and efficacy of WEB in aSAH given the delayed nature of aneurysmal thrombosis. METHODS: An international retrospective analysis of patients with aSAH treated with WEB was conducted at 7 tertiary centers from 2016 to 2020. Outcomes included rates of rebleeding, retreatment, complications, and complete occlusion. Furthermore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted from 2011 to 2020 assessing the same outcomes. All pooled event rates were calculated using a random effect model. RESULTS: Consecutive patients with aSAH harbored 25 aneurysms that were treated with 29 WEB devices. The mean age was 53 years, and 65% were female. Zero experienced rebleeding, 2 were retreated, 2 experienced complications, 16 were completely occluded at 3 months, and 21 were completed occluded at 9-12 months. Meta-analysis of 309 WEB treatments for aSAH from 7 case series revealed 2.5% (95% CI 1-5%) had rebleeding, 9% (95% CI 4-17%) were retreated, 17% (95% CI 10-30%) had complications, and 61% (95% CI 51-71%) were completely occluded at 3-6 months. CONCLUSION: WEB embolization in the setting of aSAH provides similar protection against rebleeding with comparable retreatment rates to traditional approaches. However, there is a higher rate of incomplete radiographic occlusion and operative complications compared to WEB embolization of unruptured aneurysms. Long-term prospective studies are needed to fully delineate the role of WEB embolization in aSAH.

Successful Endovascular Treatment of a Traumatic Cervical Arteriovenous Fistula After a Carotid Paraganglioma Resection: A Case Report.

Traumatic cervical arteriovenous fistulas are rare, accounting for only 4% of all arteriovenous fistulas. They can be caused by penetrating, or rarely, blunt trauma, resulting in high-pressure arterial blood draining directly into a vein, decreasing distal perfusion. They are seldom reported as a complication of a carotid paraganglioma surgical resection. Historically, arteriovenous fistulas were treated initially conservatively, after that, surgically; nowadays, endovascular treatment, when feasible, is the preferred method as it offers advantages over surgery. This case report describes a rare traumatic cervical arteriovenous fistula that developed after a carotid paraganglioma resection and was successfully treated using coils and Onyx embolic agent via endovascular embolization. After successful embolization, the patient had a smooth recovery and remained stable. In conclusion, vascular injury seems to be the only constant in all acquired cervical arteriovenous fistulas independent of the trauma mechanism; and endovascular treatment, when feasible, is preferred over surgery as it offers superior advantages.

Augmented reality for intracranial meningioma resection: a mini-review.

Augmented reality (AR) integrates computer-generated content and real-world scenarios. Artificial intelligence's continuous development has allowed AR to be integrated into medicine. Neurosurgery has progressively introduced image-guided technologies. Integration of AR into the operating room has permitted a new perception of neurosurgical diseases, not only for neurosurgical planning, patient positioning, and incision design but also for intraoperative maneuvering and identification of critical neurovascular structures and tumor boundaries. Implementing AR, virtual reality, and mixed reality has introduced neurosurgeons into a new era of artificial interfaces. Meningiomas are the most frequent primary benign tumors commonly related to paramount neurovascular structures and bone landmarks. Integration of preoperative 3D reconstructions used for surgical planning into AR can now be inserted into the microsurgical field, injecting information into head-up displays and microscopes with integrated head-up displays, aiming to guide neurosurgeons intraoperatively to prevent potential injuries. This manuscript aims to provide a mini-review of the usage of AR for intracranial meningioma resection.

Long-term Survival Following Heart Transplantation for Chagas Versus Non-Chagas Cardiomyopathy: A Single-center Experience in Northeastern Brazil Over 2 Decades.

Data on post-heart transplant (HT) survival of patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC) are scarce. We sought to evaluate post-HT survival in patients with CC as compared with other causes of heart failure across different eras of HT. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cohort study of 376 adult HT recipients between October 1997 and November 2019. Participants were classified according to the etiology of heart failure as CC (N = 66), nonischemic cardiomyopathy (N = 214), and ischemic cardiomyopathy (N = 96), and according to the era of HT as early (1997-2009), recent (2010-2014), and current era (2015-2019). Results: After a mean follow-up of 5.0 y (0-20.5 y), post-HT survival rates at 1, 5, and 10 y were comparable between groups. One-y survival improved from 70% in the early eras to 80% in the current era (hazard ratio [HR], 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41-0.97; P = 0.034). After adjustment for sex, age, and mechanical circulatory support, time-related improvement in survival was observed only in patients without CC (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.32-0.91; P = 0.019) but not in those with CC (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.36-2.73; P = 0.98). Causes of death were similar between patients with CC and the other etiological subgroups. Conclusions: Posttransplant survival is comparable between patients with CC, nonischemic cardiomyopathy, and ischemic cardiomyopathy. Although survival has improved significantly over years for most HT recipients, it has remained unchanged for those with Chagas disease. These trends underscore the importance of scientific research, policy discussions and a collaborative registry of heart transplantation in Chagas cardiomyopathy.

Sleeve resection uniportal video assisted thoracoscopic surgery, feasible and reproducible: case report.

Sleeve resection is used in central lung cancer and the objective is to preserve normal lung tissues. Uniportal VATS approach is a complex and challenging new technique that offers the benefits of minimal invasion, without increasing the risks. We presented a 41-year-old male patient, with history of cough with hemoptysis due to an exophytic lesion of the right main bronchus. Diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor type 1 (carcinoid tumor) was confirmed with bronchoscopy. Complete circumferential resection was performed, with terminal-terminal anastomosis and reconstruction. Satisfactory postoperative evolution. In post-surgical follow-up.

La resección bronquial en manga se emplea en tumores pulmonares que invaden estructuras centrales con el objetivo de preservar tejido pulmonar funcional. El abordaje VATS uniportal es una técnica novel compleja y desafiante, que ofrece los beneficios de la mínima invasión sin incrementar los riesgos. Presentamos el caso de un paciente de 41 años con un cuadro de tos con hemoptisis por lesión exofítica del bronquio principal derecho confirmada por broncoscopia, con diagnóstico de tumor neuroendocrino de tipo 1 (tumor carcinoide), que fue resecado por completo circunferencialmente, con reconstrucción término-terminal. La evolución posoperatoria fue satisfactoria. El seguimiento se realiza en consulta externa.

Cystic trigeminal schwannomas.

Trigeminal Schwannomas are less than 1% of intracranial tumors, of which only 7% have a cystic component. We documented 2 cases of males with cystic trigeminal Schwannomas, their symptoms, the diagnosis process and the imaging characteristics. In addition, a review of the literature is performed, with emphasis on the radiological classification of this rare entity, that constitutes a diagnostic challenge for the radiologist, who has an essential role in the approach to the disease and therefore in its management.

Isolated giant cerebral varix - A diagnostic and therapeutic challenge: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Isolated giant cerebral varix (IGV) is an uncommon vascular lesion that represents a diagnostic challenge and requires dynamic vascular studies for its characterization. The IGV is considered a benign, low-flow venous lesion with very low risk of bleeding that might cause secondary symptoms mainly due to compression of the adjacent parenchyma. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 12-year-old female patient with non-contributory medical history presented with headache for the last 2 months. Upon admission, her neurological examination was unremarkable. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) images demonstrated a large varicose dilation of the superficial Sylvian vein, located anterior to the left temporal pole, with no evidence of abnormal arteriovenous connections or tumoral lesions. This finding was considered incidental and unrelated to her symptoms. In this case, we considered that the combination of CTA and MRIs was enough to establish an accurate diagnosis, excluding the need to perform invasive imaging studies. Taking into account these considerations, the patient was managed with conservative treatment and has been followed up for 1 year, remaining asymptomatic. CONCLUSION: Cerebral IGVs are rare vascular lesions that are treated conservatively when asymptomatic and surgically in the case of rupture or compression of adjacent structures. Given our observation of a high unlikelihood of vascular connections to arteries, and the information obtained with non-invasive imaging techniques such as CTA and MRI was enough to make a clinical decision and avoid the evaluation with invasive procedures.

Comparaçäo farmacocinética entre apresentaçöes de ciclosporina A microemulsäo em transplantados cardíacos / Pharmacokinetic comparacion between cyclosporine A microemulsion formulations in heart transplant patients

O presente trabalho tem como finalidade analisar os princípios da equivalência terapêutica e da conversibilidade de dois preparados farmacêuticos com ciclosporina emulsäo: o produto referência e a ciclosporina microemulsäo genérica. Estudo multicêntrico, randomizado, com 25 transplantados cardíacos com evoluçäo maior de um ano e com terapia imunossupressora estável. O protocolo escolhido foi o X latino. Segundo este protocolo, cada paciente é seu próprio controle, e, durante a execuçäo da pesquisa, realiza-se o cruzamento da medicaçäo testada. Após assinatura de consentimento informado e avaliaçäo clínico-laboratorial inicial, os pacientes säo randomizados para iniciar com ciclosporina padräo ou com ciclosporina genérica. A cada 15 dias, os pacientes realizam novos contrtoles clínico e laboratorial e trocam de medicamentos. No total, säo dois períodos de observaçäo com duas rodadas de troca em cada. Os parâmetros farmacocinéticos dos dois produtos, a ciclosporinemia e a área sob a curva näo mostraram diferenças estatísticamente significativas. O efeito clínico e os efeitos colaterais foram semelhantes no período de observaçäo. Os resultados confirmam a total conversibilidade entre a ciclosporina microemulsäo padräo e a genérica.(au)

Prescribility of generic microemulsion Cyclosporine A in heart transplant patients

OBJETIVO: Determinar a prescritibilidade (eficácia terapêutica e biosegurança) da Ciclosporina microemulsäo genérica. MÉTODO: Casuística: 20 transplantados cardíacos, sendo 13 homens e sete mulheres, com idade média de 49,62 anos, iniciaram o tratamento tríplice imunossupressor, com Ciclosporina microemulsäo genérica ou Sigmasporin Microral«. A condiçäo para inclusäo era ter um seguimento mínimo de três meses. Procedimentos: avaliaçäo clínica, biópsias endomiocárdicas, dosagem de ciclosporina, exames de rotina de bioquímica e hematologia. RESULTADOS: O período de observaçäo médio foi de 10 meses e máximo de 16 meses. Foram avaliadas 151 biópsias, sendo 31,7 por cento - grau 0, 43,7 por cento - Ia e 23,1 por cento - Ib. Obtivemos uma rejeiçäo clínica confirmada com biópsia III a e uma mediastinite, ambas com boa evoluçäo. A ciclosporinemia média foi de 303 ng/ml. A evoluçäo destes pacientes transcorreu sem outros problemas. CONCLUSAO: A Ciclosporina microemulsäo genérica demonstrou excelente eficácia terapêutica e biosegurança, sendo portanto considerada prescritível.

Cirurgia de Ross em crianças / Ross procedure in children

Objetivo: Os substitutos valvares atuais não preenchem os requisitos de uma prótese ideal. A técnica de Ross tenta oferecer, principalmente às crianças, um auto-enxerto em posição aórtica, livre de eventos tromboembólicos, hemólise e com excepcional durabilidade. O homoenxerto em posição pulmonar também tem mostrado bom desempenho a longo prazo. Nosso objetivo é demonstrar a viabilidade da técnica e os resultados da experiência inicial com o procedimento. Casuística e Métodos: Foram operados entre jan/97 e dez/98, 12 pacientes. Insuficiência aórtica - 5 casos, insuficiência aórtica e mitral - 3 casos, insuficiência aórtica e membrana subaórtica - 2 casos, estenose aórtica - 1 caso, reoperação de plastia da valva aórtica - 1 caso. O sexo predominante foi o masculino (75 por cento). A idade variou de 8 a 15 anos (M = 12,17 + ou - 2,04). A classe funcional III representou 58,3 por cento e II 41,7 por cento. A avaliação pré-operatória foi realizada com auxílio do ecocardiograma e pós-operatória com ecocardiograma e cateterismo cardíaco. Os homoenxertos utilizados foram mantidos em solução preservante antibiótica. Os procedimentos foram realizados com circulação extracorpórea e cardioplegia cristalóide gelada. Resultados: As intercorrências foram: febre 75 por cento, insuficiência cardíaca congestiva (ICC) 25 por cento, hipertensão arterial sistêmica (HAS) 33,3 por cento, sangramento 8,33 por cento, hipersecreção pulmonar 8,33 por cento e isquemia miocárdica 8,33 por cento. Ecocardiograma pós-operatório demonstrou insuficiência aórtica discreta em 4 casos. Angiocardiografia evidenciou ausência de insuficiência aórtica ou pulmonar, gradiente VE-Ao em 2 casos (16 mmHg e 9 mmHg) e gradiente VD-TP em 2 casos (13,5 mmHg e 9,5 mmHg). Encontram-se em classe funcional I (91,6 por cento) e II (8,4 por cento). Conclusões: A técnica é eficaz, reprodutível e de baixa mortalidade. É necessário maior tempo de acompanhamento para avaliação dos enxertos.