Motor seizures confer overall survival benefit in who grade 2 glioma.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of epilepsy in World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2 glioma is high, with seizures being the presenting symptom in 60%-90%. We explore the epidemiology of seizures in this patient population in a regional neurosurgical center. METHODS: Electronic health records of patients with histologically-proven WHO grade 2 glioma (n = 228) were reviewed between 1997 and 2021, with data collected including patient demographics, epilepsy prevalence, and seizure semiology. The influence of seizure type on overall survival was calculated using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Overall, 197 of 228 patients (86.4%) were diagnosed with epilepsy-either at presentation or during the course of their disease. Male patients were more likely than female patients to be diagnosed with epilepsy (91.1% vs 77.1%, p = .003) and, in those with epilepsy, more likely to experience at least one focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure (69.4% vs 54.1%, p = .05). Patients with left-sided tumors were twice as likely to have experienced a focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure (p = .02, odds ratio [OR] = .47). Predominantly experiencing seizures with motor activity appeared to confer better overall survival, with a 65% decrease in the risk of death 10 years post diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR] = .35, p = .02). This is despite accounting for previously described prognostic markers including tumor histology/genetics, time from diagnosis to surgery, and the extent of tumor resection. SIGNIFICANCE: Motor seizure activity is a frequent feature in WHO grade 2 glioma and appears to confer a survival benefit regardless of histology or surgical factors. Seizures due to dominant hemisphere tumors may be more likely to propagate and cause bilateral tonic-clonic activity.

Glioblastoma and radiotherapy: A multicenter AI study for Survival Predictions from MRI (GRASP study).

BACKGROUND: The aim was to predict survival of glioblastoma at 8 months after radiotherapy (a period allowing for completing a typical course of adjuvant temozolomide), by applying deep learning to the first brain MRI after radiotherapy completion. METHODS: Retrospective and prospective data were collected from 206 consecutive glioblastoma, isocitrate dehydrogenase -wildtype patients diagnosed between March 2014 and February 2022 across 11 UK centers. Models were trained on 158 retrospective patients from 3 centers. Holdout test sets were retrospective (n = 19; internal validation), and prospective (n = 29; external validation from 8 distinct centers). Neural network branches for T2-weighted and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted inputs were concatenated to predict survival. A nonimaging branch (demographics/MGMT/treatment data) was also combined with the imaging model. We investigated the influence of individual MR sequences; nonimaging features; and weighted dense blocks pretrained for abnormality detection. RESULTS: The imaging model outperformed the nonimaging model in all test sets (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve, AUC P = .038) and performed similarly to a combined imaging/nonimaging model (P > .05). Imaging, nonimaging, and combined models applied to amalgamated test sets gave AUCs of 0.93, 0.79, and 0.91. Initializing the imaging model with pretrained weights from 10 000s of brain MRIs improved performance considerably (amalgamated test sets without pretraining 0.64; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: A deep learning model using MRI images after radiotherapy reliably and accurately determined survival of glioblastoma. The model serves as a prognostic biomarker identifying patients who will not survive beyond a typical course of adjuvant temozolomide, thereby stratifying patients into those who might require early second-line or clinical trial treatment.

Awake craniotomy for high-grade gliomas - a prospective cohort study in a UK tertiary-centre.

BACKGROUND: Studies from the UK reporting on awake craniotomy (AC) include a heterogenous group of patients which limit the evaluation of the true impact of AC in high-grade glioma (HGG) patients. This study aims to report solely the experience and outcomes of AC for HGG surgery from our centre. METHODS: A prospective review of all patients who underwent AC for HGG from 2013 to 2019 were performed. Data on patient characteristics including but not limited to demographics, pre- and post-operative Karnofsky performance status (KPS), tumour location and volume, type of surgery, extent of resection (EOR), tumour histopathology, intra- and post-operative complications, morbidity, mortality, disease recurrence, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) from the time of surgery were collected. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (6 males; 9 females; 17 surgeries) underwent AC for HGG (median age = 55 years). Two patients underwent repeat surgeries due to disease recurrence. Median pre- and post-operative KPS score was 90 (range:80-100) and 90 (range:60-100), respectively. The EOR ranges from 60 to 100 % with a minimum of 80 % achieved in 81.3 % cases. Post-operative complications include focal seizures (17.6 %), transient aphasia/dysphasia (17.6 %), permanent motor deficit (11.8 %), transient motor deficit (5.9 %) and transient sensory disturbance (5.9 %). There were no surgery-related mortality or post-operative infection. The median PFS and OS were 13 (95%CI 5-78) and 30 (95%CI 21-78) months, respectively. CONCLUSION: This is the first study in the UK to solely report outcomes of AC for HGG surgery. Our data demonstrates that AC for HGG in eloquent region is safe, feasible and provides comparable outcomes to those reported in the literature.

PFAS Exposures and the Human Metabolome: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies.

Purpose of Review: There is a growing interest in understanding the health effects of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through the study of the human metabolome. In this systematic review, we aimed to identify consistent findings between PFAS and metabolomic signatures. We conducted a search matching specific keywords that was independently reviewed by two authors on two databases (EMBASE and PubMed) from their inception through July 19, 2022 following PRISMA guidelines. Recent Findings: We identified a total of 28 eligible observational studies that evaluated the associations between 31 different PFAS exposures and metabolomics in humans. The most common exposure evaluated was legacy long-chain PFAS. Population sample sizes ranged from 40 to 1,105 participants at different stages across the lifespan. A total of 19 studies used a non-targeted metabolomics approach, 7 used targeted approaches, and 2 included both. The majority of studies were cross-sectional (n = 25), including four with prospective analyses of PFAS measured prior to metabolomics. Summary: Most frequently reported associations across studies were observed between PFAS and amino acids, fatty acids, glycerophospholipids, glycerolipids, phosphosphingolipids, bile acids, ceramides, purines, and acylcarnitines. Corresponding metabolic pathways were also altered, including lipid, amino acid, carbohydrate, nucleotide, energy metabolism, glycan biosynthesis and metabolism, and metabolism of cofactors and vitamins. We found consistent evidence across studies indicating PFAS-induced alterations in lipid and amino acid metabolites, which may be involved in energy and cell membrane disruption.

Imaging Spectrum of the Developing Glioblastoma: A Cross-Sectional Observation Study.

Glioblastoma (GBM) has the typical radiological appearance (TRA) of a centrally necrotic, peripherally enhancing tumor with surrounding edema. The objective of this study was to determine whether the developing GBM displays a spectrum of imaging changes detectable on routine clinical imaging prior to TRA GBM. Patients with pre-operative imaging diagnosed with GBM (1 January 2014-31 March 2022) were identified from a neuroscience center. The imaging was reviewed by an experienced neuroradiologist. Imaging patterns preceding TRA GBM were analyzed. A total of 76 out of 555 (14%) patients had imaging preceding TRA GBM, 57 had solitary lesions, and 19 had multiple lesions (total = 84 lesions). Here, 83% of the lesions had cortical or cortical/subcortical locations. The earliest imaging features for 84 lesions were T2 hyperintensity/CT low density (n = 18), CT hyperdensity (n = 51), and T2 iso-intensity (n = 15). Lesions initially showing T2 hyperintensity/CT low density later showed T2 iso-intensity. When CT and MRI were available, all CT hyperdense lesions showed T2 iso-intensity, reduced diffusivity, and the following enhancement patterns: nodular 35%, solid 29%, none 26%, and patchy peripheral 10%. The mean time to develop TRA GBM from T2 hyperintensity was 140 days and from CT hyperdensity was 69 days. This research suggests that the developing GBM shows a spectrum of imaging features, progressing through T2 hyperintensity to CT hyperdensity, T2 iso-intensity, reduced diffusivity, and variable enhancement to TRA GBM. Red flags for non-TRA GBM lesions are cortical/subcortical CT hyperdense/T2 iso-intense/low ADC. Future research correlating this imaging spectrum with pathophysiology may provide insight into GBM growth patterns.

The management of incidental meningioma: An unresolved clinical conundrum.

The widespread availability and use of brain magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography has led to an increase in the frequency of incidental meningioma diagnoses. Most incidental meningioma are small, demonstrate indolent behavior during follow-up, and do not require intervention. Occasionally, meningioma growth causes neurological deficits or seizures prompting surgical or radiation treatment. They may cause anxiety to the patient and present a management dilemma for the clinician. The questions for both patient and clinician are "will the meningioma grow and cause symptoms such that it will require treatment within my lifetime?" and "will deferment of treatment result in greater treatment-related risks and lower chance of cure?." International consensus guidelines recommend regular imaging and clinical follow-up, but the duration is not specified. Upfront treatment with surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy may be recommended but this is potentially an overtreatment, and its benefits must be balanced against the risk of related adverse events. Ideally, treatment should be stratified based on patient and tumor characteristics, but this is presently hindered by low-quality supporting evidence. This review discusses risk factors for meningioma growth, proposed management strategies, and ongoing research in the field.

Benchmarking short-term postoperative mortality across neurosurgery units: is hospital administrative data good enough for risk-adjustment?

BACKGROUND: Surgical mortality indicators should be risk-adjusted when evaluating the performance of organisations. This study evaluated the performance of risk-adjustment models that used English hospital administrative data for 30-day mortality after neurosurgery. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2018. Organisational-level 30-day mortality was calculated for selected subspecialties (neuro-oncology, neurovascular and trauma neurosurgery) and the overall cohort. Risk adjustment models were developed using multivariable logistic regression and incorporated various patient variables: age, sex, admission method, social deprivation, comorbidity and frailty indices. Performance was assessed in terms of discrimination and calibration. RESULTS: The cohort included 49,044 patients. Overall, 30-day mortality rate was 4.9%, with unadjusted organisational rates ranging from 3.2 to 9.3%. The variables in the best performing models varied for the subspecialties; for trauma neurosurgery, a model that included deprivation and frailty had the best calibration, while for neuro-oncology a model with these variables plus comorbidity performed best. For neurovascular surgery, a simple model of age, sex and admission method performed best. Levels of discrimination varied for the subspecialties (range: 0.583 for trauma and 0.740 for neurovascular). The models were generally well calibrated. Application of the models to the organisation figures produced an average (median) absolute change in mortality of 0.33% (interquartile range (IQR) 0.15-0.72) for the overall cohort model. Median changes for the subspecialty models were 0.29% (neuro-oncology, IQR 0.15-0.42), 0.40% (neurovascular, IQR 0.24-0.78) and 0.49% (trauma neurosurgery, IQR 0.23-1.68). CONCLUSIONS: Reasonable risk-adjustment models for 30-day mortality after neurosurgery procedures were possible using variables from HES, although the models for trauma neurosurgery performed less well. Including a measure of frailty often improved model performance.

Assessing national patterns and outcomes of pituitary surgery: is hospital administrative data good enough?

PURPOSE: Patterns of surgical care, outcomes, and quality of care can be assessed using hospital administrative databases but this requires accurate and complete data. The aim of this study was to explore whether the quality of hospital administrative data was sufficient to assess pituitary surgery practice in England. METHODS: The study analysed Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data from April 2013 to March 2018 on all adult patients undergoing pituitary surgery in England. A series of data quality indicators examined the attribution of cases to consultants, the coding of sellar and parasellar lesions, associated endocrine and visual disorders, and surgical procedures. Differences in data quality over time and between neurosurgical units were examined. RESULTS: A total of 5613 records describing pituitary procedures were identified. Overall, 97.3% had a diagnostic code for the tumour or lesion treated, with 29.7% (n = 1669) and 17.8% (n = 1000) describing endocrine and visual disorders, respectively. There was a significant reduction from the first to the fifth year in records that only contained a pituitary tumour code (63.7%-47.0%, p < .001). The use of procedure codes that attracted the highest tariff increased over time (66.4%-82.4%, p < .001). Patterns of coding varied widely between the 24 neurosurgical units. CONCLUSION: The quality of HES data on pituitary surgery has improved over time but there is wide variation in the quality of data between neurosurgical units. Research studies and quality improvement programmes using these data need to check it is of sufficient quality to not invalidate their results.

Do animal models of brain tumors replicate human peritumoral edema? a systematic literature search.

INTRODUCTION: Brain tumors cause morbidity and mortality in part through peritumoral brain edema. The current main treatment for peritumoral brain edema are corticosteroids. Due to the increased recognition of their side-effect profile, there is growing interest in finding alternatives to steroids but there is little formal study of animal models of peritumoral brain edema. This study aims to summarize the available literature. METHODS: A systematic search was undertaken of 5 literature databases (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed and the Cochrane Library). The generic strategy was to search for various terms associated with "brain tumors", "brain edema" and "animal models". RESULTS: We identified 603 reports, of which 112 were identified as relevant for full text analysis that studied 114 peritumoral brain edema animal models. We found significant heterogeneity in the species and strain of tumor-bearing animals, tumor implantation method and edema assessment. Most models did not produce appreciable brain edema and did not test for observable manifestations thereof. CONCLUSION: No animal model currently exists that enable the investigation of novel candidates for the treatment of peritumoral brain edema. With current interest in alternative treatments for peritumoral brain edema, there is an unmet need for clinically relevant animal models.

Levetiracetam as a first-line antiseizure medication in WHO grade 2 glioma: Time to seizure freedom and rates of treatment failure.

OBJECTIVE: The high seizure burden seen in World Health Association (WHO) grade 2 gliomas is well documented. This study aims to identify factors that influence the probability of seizure freedom (12 months of seizure remission) and treatment failure (antiseizure medication [ASM] cessation or introduction of an alternative) in patients with WHO grade 2 glioma. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational analysis of patients from a regional UK neurosurgical center with histologically proven (n = 146) WHO grade 2 glioma and brain tumor related epilepsy. Statistical analyses using both Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were undertaken, with a particular focus on treatment outcomes when the commonly prescribed ASM levetiracetam (n = 101) is used as first line. RESULTS: Treatment with levetiracetam as a first-line ASM resulted in a significant increase in the probability of seizure freedom (p < .05) at 2 years compared with treatment with an alternative ASM. Individuals presenting with focal seizures without bilateral tonic-clonic progression were between 39% and 42% significantly less likely to reach seizure freedom within 10 years (p < .05) and 132% more likely to fail treatment by 5 years (p < .01) when compared to individuals who had seizures with progression to bilateral tonic-clonic activity. ASM choice did not significantly affect treatment failure rates. SIGNIFICANCE: More than two-thirds of patients with WHO grade 2 glioma related epilepsy treated with levetiracetam first line achieve seizure freedom within 2 years and it is a reasonable first-choice agent. Experiencing mainly focal seizures without progression infers a significant long-term reduction in the chance of seizure freedom. Further studies are needed to inform ASM selection.

ASPECT Score and Its Application to Vasospasm in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage: a Case-Control Study.

Delayed cerebral ischaemia (DCI) is a significant complication of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) and is strongly associated with poorer outcome. The Alberta Stroke Program Early Computer Tomography (ASPECT) score is an established scoring tool, used in acute ischaemic stroke, to quantify early ischaemic changes on CT head scans. We aim to identify if ASPECT scoring correlates with functional outcome in DCI following aSAH. Retrospective case-control study. Inclusion criteria: admission to the Department of Neurosurgery at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (a tertiary neurosurgical centre in the United Kingdom) between 2014 and 2018, with a diagnosis of anterior circulation aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage; as confirmed by initial CT scan and subsequent CT angiography or catheter digital subtraction angiography. Cases were those who developed DCI (n = 43) and controls were randomly selected from those who did not develop DCI (n = 46) but otherwise met the same inclusion criteria. The primary outcome measure was Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS): assessed at discharge and 3 months. ASPECT scores were calculated from non-contrast CT head scans by three researchers blinded to each other and clinical outcome. Spearman's rank correlation was used to calculate correlation between ASPECT scores and GOS. ASPECT score positively correlated with GOS in the cases both at discharge (Spearman rho 0.436, p = 0.003) and at 3 months (Spearman rho 0.431, p = 0.004). When corrected for Fisher grading, the adjusted odds ratio of having a high GOS with a low ASPECT score at discharge was OR 0.74 (95% CI 0.61-0.94, p = 0.003), and 3 months OR 0.73 (95% CI 0.59-0.91, p = 0.005). ASPECT score significantly correlates with clinical outcome in DCI post aSAH, even after correcting for Fisher grade. ASPECT scoring may identify patients at risk of poor outcome following DCI and represents a quick and reliable tool that aids in clinical decision-making and prognostication.

Mortality as an indicator of quality of neurosurgical care in England: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Postoperative mortality is a widely used quality indicator, but it may be unreliable when procedure numbers and/or mortality rates are low, due to insufficient statistical power. The objective was to investigate the statistical validity of postoperative 30-day mortality as a quality metric for neurosurgical practice across healthcare providers. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Hospital Episode Statistics data from all neurosurgical units in England. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who underwent neurosurgical procedures between April 2013 and March 2018. Procedures were grouped using the National Neurosurgical Audit Programme classification. OUTCOMES MEASURED: National 30-day postoperative mortality rates were calculated for elective and non-elective neurosurgical procedural groups. The study estimated the proportion of neurosurgeons and NHS trusts in England that performed sufficient procedures in 3-year and 5-year periods to detect unusual performance (defined as double the national rate of mortality). The actual difference in mortality rates that could be reliably detected based on procedure volumes of neurosurgeons and units over a 5-year period was modelled. RESULTS: The 30-day mortality rates for all elective and non-elective procedures were 0.4% and 6.1%, respectively. Only one neurosurgeon in England achieved the minimum sample size (n=2402) of elective cases in 5 years needed to detect if their mortality rate was double the national average. All neurosurgical units achieved the minimum sample sizes for both elective (n=2402) and non-elective (n=149) procedures. In several neurosurgical subspecialties, approximately 80% of units (or more) achieved the minimum sample sizes needed to detect if their mortality rate was double the national rate, including elective neuro-oncology (baseline mortality rate=2.3%), non-elective neuro-oncology (rate=5.7%), neurovascular (rate=6.7%) and trauma (rate=11%). CONCLUSION: Postoperative mortality lacks statistical power as a measure of individual neurosurgeon performance. Neurosurgical units in England performed sufficient procedure numbers overall and in several subspecialty areas to support the use of mortality as a quality indicator.

Leveraging deep learning-based segmentation and contours-driven deformable registration for dose accumulation in abdominal structures.

Purpose: Discrepancies between planned and delivered dose to GI structures during radiation therapy (RT) of liver cancer may hamper the prediction of treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study is to develop a streamlined workflow for dose accumulation in a treatment planning system (TPS) during liver image-guided RT and to assess its accuracy when using different deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms. Materials and Methods: Fifty-six patients with primary and metastatic liver cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy guided by daily CT-on-rails (CTOR) were retrospectively analyzed. The liver, stomach and duodenum contours were auto-segmented on all planning CTs and daily CTORs using deep-learning methods. Dose accumulation was performed for each patient using scripting functionalities of the TPS and considering three available DIR algorithms based on: (i) image intensities only; (ii) intensities + contours; (iii) a biomechanical model (contours only). Planned and accumulated doses were converted to equivalent dose in 2Gy (EQD2) and normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP) were calculated for the stomach and duodenum. Dosimetric indexes for the normal liver, GTV, stomach and duodenum and the NTCP values were exported from the TPS for analysis of the discrepancies between planned and the different accumulated doses. Results: Deep learning segmentation of the stomach and duodenum enabled considerable acceleration of the dose accumulation process for the 56 patients. Differences between accumulated and planned doses were analyzed considering the 3 DIR methods. For the normal liver, stomach and duodenum, the distribution of the 56 differences in maximum doses (D2%) presented a significantly higher variance when a contour-driven DIR method was used instead of the intensity only-based method. Comparing the two contour-driven DIR methods, differences in accumulated minimum doses (D98%) in the GTV were >2Gy for 15 (27%) of the patients. Considering accumulated dose instead of planned dose in standard NTCP models of the duodenum demonstrated a high sensitivity of the duodenum toxicity risk to these dose discrepancies, whereas smaller variations were observed for the stomach. Conclusion: This study demonstrated a successful implementation of an automatic workflow for dose accumulation during liver cancer RT in a commercial TPS. The use of contour-driven DIR methods led to larger discrepancies between planned and accumulated doses in comparison to using an intensity only based DIR method, suggesting a better capability of these approaches in estimating complex deformations of the GI organs.

Imaging timing after glioblastoma surgery (INTERVAL-GB): protocol for a UK and Ireland, multicentre retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumour with a median overall survival of 12-15 months (range 6-17 months), even with maximal treatment involving debulking neurosurgery and adjuvant concomitant chemoradiotherapy. The use of postoperative imaging to detect progression is of high importance to clinicians and patients, but currently, the optimal follow-up schedule is yet to be defined. It is also unclear how adhering to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines-which are based on general consensus rather than evidence-affects patient outcomes such as progression-free and overall survival. The primary aim of this study is to assess MRI monitoring practice after surgery for glioblastoma, and to evaluate its association with patient outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: ImagiNg Timing aftER surgery for glioblastoma: an eVALuation of practice in Great Britain and Ireland is a retrospective multicentre study that will include 450 patients with an operated glioblastoma, treated with any adjuvant therapy regimen in the UK and Ireland. Adult patients ≥18 years diagnosed with glioblastoma and undergoing surgery between 1 August 2018 and 1 February 2019 will be included. Clinical and radiological scanning data will be collected until the date of death or date of last known follow-up. Anonymised data will be uploaded to an online Castor database. Adherence to NICE guidelines and the effect of being concordant with NICE guidelines will be identified using descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Each participating centre is required to gain local institutional approval for data collection and sharing. Formal ethical approval is not required since this is a service evaluation. Results of the study will be reported through peer-reviewed presentations and articles, and will be disseminated to participating centres, patients and the public.

A Delphi consensus statement for digital surgery.

The use of digital technology is increasing rapidly across surgical specialities, yet there is no consensus for the term 'digital surgery'. This is critical as digital health technologies present technical, governance, and legal challenges which are unique to the surgeon and surgical patient. We aim to define the term digital surgery and the ethical issues surrounding its clinical application, and to identify barriers and research goals for future practice. 38 international experts, across the fields of surgery, AI, industry, law, ethics and policy, participated in a four-round Delphi exercise. Issues were generated by an expert panel and public panel through a scoping questionnaire around key themes identified from the literature and voted upon in two subsequent questionnaire rounds. Consensus was defined if >70% of the panel deemed the statement important and <30% unimportant. A final online meeting was held to discuss consensus statements. The definition of digital surgery as the use of technology for the enhancement of preoperative planning, surgical performance, therapeutic support, or training, to improve outcomes and reduce harm achieved 100% consensus agreement. We highlight key ethical issues concerning data, privacy, confidentiality and public trust, consent, law, litigation and liability, and commercial partnerships within digital surgery and identify barriers and research goals for future practice. Developers and users of digital surgery must not only have an awareness of the ethical issues surrounding digital applications in healthcare, but also the ethical considerations unique to digital surgery. Future research into these issues must involve all digital surgery stakeholders including patients.

Day 2 neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios for prediction of delayed cerebral ischemia in subarachnoid hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence has suggested that an admission neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of ≥ 5.9 predicts delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). The primary aims of this study were to assess reproducibility and to ascertain the predictive ability of NLR on subsequent days postictus. Secondary aims included identification of additional inflammatory markers. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective study of all patients aged ≥ 18 years with aSAH between May 2014 and July 2018 was performed. Patient characteristics, DCI incidence, operative features, and outcomes (on discharge and at 3 months postictus) were recorded. C-reactive protein (CRP) and full blood count differentials were recorded on admission and through day 8 postictus or at discharge. In total, 403 patients were included in the final analysis. RESULTS: Ninety-six patients (23.8%) developed DCI with a median time from ictus of 6 days (IQR 3.25-8 days). A platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) cutoff ≥ 157 and CRP cutoff ≥ 27 was used in our cohort. In a multiple binary logistic regression model, after controlling for known DCI predictors, day 2 NLR ≥ 5.9 (OR 2.194, 95% CI 1.099-4.372; p = 0.026), day 1 PLR ≥ 157 (OR 2.398, 95% CI 1.1072-5.361; p = 0.033), day 2 PLR ≥ 157 (OR 2.676, 95% CI 1.344-5.329; p = 0.005), and CRP ≥ 27 on days 3, 4, and 5 were predictive of DCI. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study have confirmed the association between NLR and DCI and have demonstrated the predictive potential of PLR and CRP, suggesting that NLR and PLR at day 2, and CRP from day 3 onward, may be better predictors of DCI than those measurements at the time of ictus.

Patterns and outcomes of neurosurgery in England over a five-year period: A national retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Neurosurgical practice has seen major changes over several decades. There are no recent evaluations of national neurosurgical practice. The aim of this observational study was to describe neurosurgical practice in England and to use outcomes to assess and benchmark the quality of care in neurosurgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This national retrospective cohort study analysed Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data from April 2013 to March 2018 for all adult admissions with a specialty code for neurosurgery. The epidemiology of patients and RCS Charlson comorbidities were derived and procedure incidence rates per 100,000 person-years calculated. Post-operative outcomes for elective and non-elective patients included: median length of stay, the proportion of patients requiring additional inpatient neurosurgical procedures, the proportion of patients discharged to their usual address, and in-hospital mortality rates. RESULTS: During the 5-year study period, there were 371,418 admissions to neurosurgery. The proportion of admissions involving a neurosurgical procedure was 77.3% (n = 287,077). Of these, 45% were for cranial surgery and 37% for spinal. Overall, 68.3% were elective procedures. The incidence rates of most procedures were low (<20 per 100,000 person-years). Following elective neurosurgical procedures, in-hospital mortality rates for cranial and spinal surgery were 0.5% (95% CI, 0.5-0.6) and 0.1% (95% CI, 0.04-0.1), respectively. After non-elective neurosurgery, mortality rates were 7.4% (95% CI, 7.2-7.6) and 1.3% (95% CI, 1.2-1.5) for cranial and spinal surgery, respectively. Approximately 1 in 4 patients had additional procedures following non-elective cranial surgery (24%; 95% CI, 23.6-24.3). Outcomes were highly variable across different subspecialty areas. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rates of neurosurgical procedures are low within England, and neurosurgical units have a high volume of non-surgical admissions. In-hospital mortality rates after elective neurosurgery are low but there may be opportunities for quality improvement programmes to improve outcomes for non-elective surgery as well as ensuring equitable access to treatment.

External validation and recalibration of an incidental meningioma prognostic model - IMPACT: protocol for an international multicentre retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Due to the increased use of CT and MRI, the prevalence of incidental findings on brain scans is increasing. Meningioma, the most common primary brain tumour, is a frequently encountered incidental finding, with an estimated prevalence of 3/1000. The management of incidental meningioma varies widely with active clinical-radiological monitoring being the most accepted method by clinicians. Duration of monitoring and time intervals for assessment, however, are not well defined. To this end, we have recently developed a statistical model of progression risk based on single-centre retrospective data. The model Incidental Meningioma: Prognostic Analysis Using Patient Comorbidity and MRI Tests (IMPACT) employs baseline clinical and imaging features to categorise the patient with an incidental meningioma into one of three risk groups: low, medium and high risk with a proposed active monitoring strategy based on the risk and temporal trajectory of progression, accounting for actuarial life expectancy. The primary aim of this study is to assess the external validity of this model. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: IMPACT is a retrospective multicentre study which will aim to include 1500 patients with an incidental intracranial meningioma, powered to detect a 10% progression risk. Adult patients ≥16 years diagnosed with an incidental meningioma between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2010 will be included. Clinical and radiological data will be collected longitudinally until the patient reaches one of the study endpoints: intervention (surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery or fractionated radiotherapy), mortality or last date of follow-up. Data will be uploaded to an online Research Electronic Data Capture database with no unique identifiers. External validity of IMPACT will be tested using established statistical methods. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Local institutional approval at each participating centre will be required. Results of the study will be reported through peer-reviewed articles and conferences and disseminated to participating centres, patients and the public using social media.

The role of sex genotype in paediatric CNS tumour incidence and survival.

PURPOSE: Evidence exists, in CNS germinomas and medulloblastomas (MB), that patient sex significantly influences incidence and outcome. The role of sex genotype in other paediatric CNS tumours remains unclear. This study sought to examine the role of sex genotype in CNS tumour incidence and overall survival (OS). METHODS: Age-adjusted incidence and OS rates were collected from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Result (SEER) registry between 2000 and 2011 for common paediatric (<=19 years) CNS tumours: pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), anaplastic astrocytoma, glioblastoma (GBM), medulloblastoma, supratentorial CNS embryonal tumour, ependymoma, and germinoma. All patients with histologically confirmed, ICD-03 coded, first tumours, were included. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR). RESULTS: The total cases are as follows: males=3018 and females=2276. Highest incidence was seen in PA (n=2103). GBM displayed the worst OS, whilst PA displayed the best. Higher incidence was observed in males for all tumours, except PA. Females with ependymoma had significantly better OS compared to males, whereas males with germinomas had better OS compared to females. Females <1 year with AA had better OS than males. Increasing age significantly improved male and female survival in ependymoma and medulloblastoma. CONCLUSION: Interrogating population-based registries such as SEER minimises bias and provides credible data. Observed differences in incidence and OS between the sexes for different paediatric CNS tumours provide useful prognostic information for clinicians. Sex genotype was a significant independent prognostic factor in ependymomas and germinomas. Further investigation of possible epigenetic and hormonal differences may provide sex-specific vulnerabilities that may be exploitable for targeted therapy.