Endoscopic third ventriculostomy for the treatment of osteopetrosis-related hydrocephalus: a case-based update.

BACKGROUND: Osteopetrosis is a heterogenous group of disorders characterised by a failure of normal bone maturation and abnormal bone sclerosis secondary to the failure of osteoclasts to resorb bone. The most serious consequences of this disorder affect the nervous system. Patients with infantile osteopetrosis (also called malignant osteopetrosis) can develop a gradual occlusion of, or narrowing of the skull foramina at the skull base, resulting in the compression of vital nerves and vessels. Hydrocephalus has been identified in these patients, particularly those with the autosomal recessive variety of osteopetrosis. Although the exact aetiology is uncertain, it is possible that venous outflow obstruction at the cranial foramina along with a reduced intracranial space for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flow around the hemispheres could be contributing factors. There are few reports in the literature on the management of this unusual association, hydrocephalus secondary to osteopetrosis. The authors report one such case where this association has been successfully surgically treated with endoscopic third ventriculostomy as a form of CSF diversion. CASE REPORT: We successfully treated a 9-month-old girl with osteopetrosis and symptomatic hydrocephalus with an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV). She later went on to have stem cell transplantation to treat the osteopetrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Most reports in the literature have identified ventriculoperitoneal (or other distal site) shunting as the treatment of choice for hydrocephalus in this setting. We would like to highlight that ETV is another effective and often very suitable method of CSF diversion in these patients.

Spontaneous pediculolysis with associated contralateral laminar fracture. A case report.

The authors report the case of a 38 year-old female with a rare combination of spontaneous pediculolysis with an associated contralateral laminar fracture of the lumbar spine. Multimodal radiological examinations of the whole lumbar spine are recommended in the case of a symptomatic patient with low back pain who is not responding to basic physiotherapy and pain management modalities. This will provide the unsuspecting clinician a method to diagnose this rare cause of low back pain and avoid unnecessary surgical intervention.

A systematic review of MIS and open decompression surgery for spinal metastases in the last two decades.

OBJECTIVE: The primary intention of this review being to produce an updated systematic review of the literature on published outcomes of decompressive surgery for metastatic spinal disease including metastatic spinal cord compression, using techniques of MIS and open decompressive surgery. METHODS: The authors conducted database searches of OVID MEDLINE and EMBASE identifying those studies that reported clinical outcomes, surgical techniques used along with associated complications when decompressive surgery was employed for metastatic spinal tumors. Both retrospective and prospective studies were analysed. Articles were assessed to ensure the required inclusion criteria was met. Articles were then categorised and tabulated based on the following reported outcomes: predictors of survival, predictors of ambulation or motor function, surgical technique, neurological function, and miscellaneous outcomes. RESULTS: 2654 citations were retrieved from databases, of these 31 met the inclusion criteria. 5 studies were prospective, the remaining 26 were retrospective. Publication years ranged from 2000 to 2020. Study size ranged from 30 to 914 patients. The most common primary tumors identified were lungs, breast, prostate and renal cancers. One study ( Lo and Yang, 2017)13 reported that in those patients with motor deficit, survival was significantly improved when surgery was performed within 7 days of the development of motor deficit compared to situations when surgery was carried out 7 days after onset. This was the only study that showed that the timing of surgery plays a significant role w.r.t. survival following the onset of spinal cord compression symptoms. Four articles identified that a pre-operative intact motor function and or ambulatory status conferred a higher likelihood of a better post-operative outcome, not just in relation to survival but also in relation to post-operative ambulation as well as a greater tendency towards suitability for adjuvant treatment. Even for the same scoring system e.g. tokuhashi and its effectiveness in predicting survival, results from different studies varied in their outcome. The Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) being the most commonly used tool to assess functional impairment, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status being used in two studies. 23 studies identified an improvement in neurological function following surgery. The most common functional scale used to assess neurological outcome was the Frankel scale, 3 studies used the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale for this purpose. Wound problems including infection and dehiscence appeared to be the most commonly reported surgical complication. (25 studies). The most commonly used surgical technique involved a posterior approach with decompression, with or without stabilisation. Less commonly employed techniques included percutaneous pedicle screw fixation associated with or without mini-decompression as well as anterior approaches involving corpectomy and instrumentation. 9 studies included in their data, the effect of radiation therapy in combination with surgery or as a comparison used as an alternative to surgery in spinal metastases. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a systematic literature review on the outcomes of decompressive surgery for spinal metastases. We analyse survival data, motor function, neurological function, as well as the techniques of surgery used. Where appropriate complications of surgery are also highlighted. It is the authors' intention to provide the reader with a reference text where this information is ready to hand, allowing for the consideration of means and methods to improve and optimise the standard of care in patients undergoing surgical intervention for metastatic spinal disease.

Lateral lumbar interbody fusion in adult spine deformity - A review of literature.

INTRODUCTION: Surgery for adult spine deformity presents a challenging issue for spinal surgeons with high morbidity rates reported in the literature. The minimally invasive lateral approach aims at reducing these complications while maintaining similar outcomes as associated with open spinal surgeries. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the use of lateral lumbar interbody fusion in the cases of adult spinal deformity. METHODS: A literature review was done using the healthcare database Advanced Research on NICE and NHS website using Medline. Search terms were "XLIF" or "LLIF" or "DLIF" or "lateral lumbar interbody fusion" or "minimal invasive lateral fusion" and "adult spinal deformity" or "spinal deformity". RESULTS: A total of 417 studies were considered for the review and 44 studies were shortlisted after going through the selection criteria. The data of 1722 patients and 4057 fusion levels were analysed for this review. The mean age of the patients was 65.18 years with L4/5 being the most common level fused in this review. We found significant improvement in the radiological parameters (lordosis, scoliosis, and disk height) in the pooled data. Transient neurological symptoms and cage subsidence were the two most common complications reported. CONCLUSION: LLIF is a safe and effective approach in managing adult spinal deformity with low morbidity and acceptable complication rates. It can be used alone for lower grades of deformity and as an adjuvant procedure to decrease the magnitude of open surgeries in high-grade deformities.

Spontaneous cranial extradural hematoma: case report and review of literature.

Extradural hematoma (EDH) is usually a post-traumatic sequel but a few cases of spontaneous EDH have been reported. Here we report a woman who presented with spontaneous acute EDH but was later found to have dural metastasis from lung carcinoma. Causal factors have been present in all reported cases, as well as in this case. We propose the term non-traumatic EDH.