Assessment of cerebrovascular alterations induced by inflammatory response and oxidative-nitrative stress after traumatic intracranial hypertension and a potential mitigation strategy.

The rapid perfusion of cerebral arteries leads to a significant increase in intracranial blood volume, exposing patients with traumatic brain injury to the risk of diffuse brain swelling or malignant brain herniation during decompressive craniectomy. The microcirculation and venous system are also involved in this process, but the precise mechanisms remain unclear. A physiological model of extremely high intracranial pressure was created in rats. This development triggered the TNF-α/NF-κB/iNOS axis in microglia, and released many inflammatory factors and reactive oxygen species/reactive nitrogen species, generating an excessive amount of peroxynitrite. Subsequently, the capillary wall cells especially pericytes exhibited severe degeneration and injury, the blood-brain barrier was disrupted, and a large number of blood cells were deposited within the microcirculation, resulting in a significant delay in the recovery of the microcirculation and venous blood flow compared to arterial flow, and this still persisted after decompressive craniectomy. Infliximab is a monoclonal antibody bound to TNF-α that effectively reduces the activity of TNF-α/NF-κB/iNOS axis. Treatment with Infliximab resulted in downregulation of inflammatory and oxidative-nitrative stress related factors, attenuation of capillary wall cells injury, and relative reduction of capillary hemostasis. These improved the delay in recovery of microcirculation and venous blood flow.

Intraventricular Shunt as a Treatment for Entrapped Temporal Horn After Removal of Ventricular Meningioma: A Report of Two Cases.

Entrapped temporal horn (ETH) is a complication following resection of ventricular trigone tumors. It is a special localized hydrocephalus. Obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid outflow following resection of ventricular trigone tumors leads to dilation of the temporal horn and the production of the local space-occupying effect. This article presents two cases of ETH following the resection of ventricular trigone tumors. Our Intraventricular shunt is an effective treatment that uses a T-connector to connect a reservoir with two catheters. We presented temporal-frontal horn shunt and trigone-front horn shunt. A patient presented with ETH shunt dependency. Our intraventricular shunt surgery achieved a good prognosis.

The role of coagulopathy and subdural hematoma thickness at admission in predicting the prognoses of patients with severe traumatic brain injury: A multicenter retrospective cohort study from China.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the diseases with high disability and mortality worldwide. Recent studies have shown that TBI-related factors may change the complex balance between bleeding and thrombosis, leading to coagulation disorders. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the prediction of coagulopathy and subdural hematoma thickness at admission using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) in patients with severe TBI at 6 months after discharge. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 1,006 patients with severe TBI in large medical centers in three different provinces of China from June 2015 to June 2021 were enrolled after the exclusion criteria, and 800 patients who met the enrollment criteria were included. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the best cut-off values of platelet (PLT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and subdural hematoma (SDH) thickness. The ROC curve, nomogram, calibration curve, and the decision curve were used to evaluate the predictive effect of the coagulopathy and Coagulopathy-SDH(X1) models on the prognoses of patients with severe TBI, and the importance of predictive indicators was ranked by machine learning. RESULTS: Among the patients with severe TBI on admission, 576/800 (72%) had coagulopathy, 494/800 (61%) had SDH thickness ≥14.05 mm, and 385/800 (48%) had coagulopathy combined with SDH thickness ≥14.05 mm. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that age, pupil, brain herniation, WBC, CRP, SDH, coagulopathy, and X1 were independent prognostic factors for GOS after severe TBI. Compared with other single indicators, X1 as a predictor of the prognosis of severe TBI was more accurate. The GOS of patients with coagulopathy and thick SDH (X1, 1 point) at 6 months after discharge was significantly worse than that of patients with coagulopathy and thin SDH (X1, 2 points), patients without coagulopathy and thick SDH (X1, 3 point), and patients without coagulopathy and thin SDH (X1, 4 points). In the training group, the C-index based on the coagulopathy nomogram was 0.900. The C-index of the X1-based nomogram was 0.912. In the validation group, the C-index based on the coagulopathy nomogram was 0.858. The C-index of the X1-based nomogram was 0.877. Decision curve analysis also confirmed that the X1-based model had a higher clinical net benefit of GOS at 6 months after discharge than the coagulopathy-based model in most cases, both in the training and validation groups. In addition, compared with the calibration curve based on the coagulopathy model, the prediction of the X1 model-based calibration curve for the probability of GOS at 6 months after discharge showed better agreement with actual observations. Machine learning compared the importance of each independent influencing factor in the evaluation of GOS prediction after TBI, with results showing that the importance of X1 was better than that of coagulopathy alone. CONCLUSION: Coagulopathy combined with SDH thickness could be used as a new, accurate, and objective clinical predictor, and X1, based on combining coagulopathy with SDH thickness could be used to improve the accuracy of GOS prediction in patients with TBI, 6 months after discharge.

Adenomyosis Accompanied by Multiple Hemorrhagic Cerebral Infarction: A Case Report.

This study aims to present a case of uterine adenomyosis accompanied by multiple hemorrhagic cerebral infarctions (CIs), summarize therapeutic experiences based on the literature review, and improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment of multiple hemorrhagic CIs. This paper describes a 46-year-old female with a four-year history of uterine adenomyosis complicated by multiple hemorrhagic CIs. During treatment, elevated levels of D-dimer, CA-125, and severe anemia were observed. Following internal medicine treatment targeting uterine adenomyosis and hemorrhagic CIs, the cerebral hemorrhage gradually resolved. Women presenting with multiple CIs, particularly hemorrhagic ones, should be evaluated for the presence of gynecological diseases. Treating gynecological conditions may aid in the management of multiple CIs.

Analysis of MRI features and associated factors of the pituitary neuroendocrine tumor streaky sign.

OBJECTIVES: Observation of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors with streaky sign on MRI, analysis of their features on imaging and further investigation of the relationship between the direction of the streak sign and the direction of optimal tumor expansion. METHODS: The MR images of 237 patients with pituitary neuroendocrine tumors were retrospectively analyzed. The streaky-like high signal with a substantial length of more than 10 mm and obvious enhancement on T1WI was defined as the streaky sign. Finally, 66 patients were included in the study, comprising 33 patients with streaky sign pituitary neuroendocrine tumors and 33 randomly selected patients with non-streaky sign pituitary neuroendocrine tumors. The general condition of these 66 patients, the imaging features of the tumor, and the measurement and analysis of the direction of the streaky sign in relation to the direction of optimal tumor extension were observed and analyzed. RESULTS: On MRI, 85 streaky signs were observed. The average deviation between the direction angle of all the streaky signs and the optimal extension direction angle of the tumor was approximately 11°. The longest streaky sign angle was positively correlated with the optimal extension angle of the tumor, with a correlation coefficient of 0.967. CONCLUSION: The presence of a streaky sign of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors may indicate a dilated sinus or a small blood vessel. Its direction is highly consistent with the optimal extension direction of the tumor, which has a certain supporting effect on the long-distance growth of the tumor.

Incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of acute brain swelling associated with traumatic acute subdural hematoma: a retrospective study utilizing novel diagnostic criteria.

Background: Post-traumatic acute brain swelling (ABS) is a major cause of elevated intracranial pressure and thus mortality. The current definition of post-traumatic ABS has certain limitations, and there is limited information available regarding ABS associated with traumatic acute subdural hematoma (ASDH). Objectives: To investigate the incidence, risk factors, and clinical outcomes of ABS associated with traumatic ASDH. Design: Retrospective study. Methods: Data for 161 patients diagnosed with traumatic ASDH were retrospectively collected. Novel computed tomography-based criteria were proposed for diagnosing ABS in patients with ASDH and determining its incidence. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the risk factors of post-traumatic ABS. The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score, mortality, and functional prognosis of all patients at discharge and the proportion of intraoperative malignant brain bulge in surgical patients were taken as clinical outcome measures. Results: A total of 45 (28%) patients experienced post-traumatic ABS, exhibiting significantly lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores on admission (p < 0.001). The incidence of hemispheric and whole-brain swelling was 8.1% and 19.9%, respectively. Risk factors independently associated with post-traumatic ABS were: (1) age [odds ratio (OR) = 0.917, p < 0.001]; (2) platelet to white blood cell ratio (PWR) (OR = 0.887, p = 0.012); and (3) traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (OR = 4.346, p = 0.005). The ABS cohort had a lower GOS score [2 (1-3) versus 4 (3-5); p < 0.001], higher mortality (46.7% versus 6.9%; p < 0.001), and higher proportion of unfavorable functional prognosis (75.6% versus 34.5%; p < 0.001) upon discharge compared to the no ABS cohort, along with higher proportion of intraoperative malignant brain bulge (43.8% versus 0%; p < 0.001). Conclusion: The incidence of ABS associated with ASDH is significantly high overall. Patients with ASDH who have young age, low PWR, and traumatic SAH are at an increased risk of developing post-traumatic ABS, and therefore of poor clinical outcomes.

MRI 3D SPACE T2WI for Pituitary Adenoma Cavernous Sinus Invasion Diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 3D SPACE T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) sequences in evaluating cavernous sinus invasion by pituitary adenomas. METHODS: Data were collected from patients who underwent continuous pituitary MRIexaminations at the Medical Imaging Center of our hospital from October 2019 to February 2021. Eligible cases were evaluated for sagittal and axial T1WI sequences, coronal 3D SPACE T2WI sequences, and sagittal and coronal enhanced T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) sequences using the INFINITT PACS workstation. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples and the Mann-Whitney U test for 2 independent samples were used to statistically analyze differences in image quality scores among various groups. In addition, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of each observation index were compared with intraoperative results. RESULTS: 3D SPACE T2WI showed superior cavernous sinus imaging quality compared with contrast enhanced T1WI and T2WI plain scans (P < 0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 100%, 90.0%, 55.60%, and 100.0%, respectively. The accuracy for pituitary adenoma invasiveness diagnosis based on cavernous sinus medial wall integrity was 94.40%. CONCLUSIONS: The imaging quality of the medial wall of the cavernous sinus on the 3D SPACE T2WI plain scan sequence surpassed that of contrast enhanced T1WI TSE-enhanced scans and T2WI TSE plain scans. The continuous observation of the medial wall of the cavernous sinus using this sequence holds great diagnostic value for assessing cavernous sinus invasion by pituitary adenomas. This strategy is more reliable than traditional MRI observation indicators.

Predictive value of cyst/tumor volume ratio of pituitary adenoma for tumor cell proliferation.

BACKGROUND: MRI has been widely used to predict the preoperative proliferative potential of pituitary adenoma (PA). However, the relationship between the cyst/tumor volume ratio (C/T ratio) and the proliferative potential of PA has not been reported. Herein, we determined the predictive value of the C/T ratio of PA for tumor cell proliferation. METHODS: The clinical data of 72 patients with PA and cystic change on MRI were retrospectively analyzed. PA volume, cyst volume, and C/T ratio were calculated. The corresponding intraoperative specimens were collected. Immunohistochemistry and hematoxylin-eosin staining were performed to evaluate the Ki67 index and nuclear atypia. Patients were categorized according to the Ki67 index (< 3% and ≥ 3%) and nuclear atypia (absence and presence). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the significant predictors of the Ki67 index and nuclear atypia. The receiver operating characteristic curve assessed the prediction ability of the significant predictors. RESULTS: Larger tumor volumes, smaller cyst volumes, and lower C/T ratios were found in patients with higher Ki67 indexes and those with nuclear atypia (P < 0.05). C/T ratio was an independent predictor of the Ki67 index (odds ratio = 0.010, 95% confidence interval = 0.000-0.462) and nuclear atypia (odds ratio = 0.010, 95% confidence interval = 0.000-0.250). The predictive value of the C/T ratio did not differ significantly from that of tumor volume (P > 0.05) but was better than that of cyst volume (P < 0.05). The area under the curve of the C/T ratio for predicting the Ki67 index and nuclear atypia was larger than that for predicting cyst volume and tumor volume. CONCLUSIONS: C/T ratios can be used to predict PA tumor proliferation preoperatively. Our findings may facilitate the selection of surgery timing and the efficacy evaluation of surgery.

Rathke's Cleft Cyst Leads to Stunted Growth in Children: A Case Report Written With the Help of ChatGPT.

In recent times, ChatGPT has become a globally renowned AI tool, revolutionizing academic research by offering innovative methods and opportunities. The integration of AI into various domains is a prevailing topic, focusing on optimizing its utility. This article presents a case study of a child with Rathke's cyst, primarily exhibiting symptoms of growth and developmental delay. The patient's self-perception of stunted growth, coupled with previous assessments indicating partial growth hormone deficiency, prompted further investigation. Laboratory assessments revealed low growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor levels, while imaging disclosed a pituitary lesion. Rathke's cyst was postulated as the probable cause of the growth hormone deficiency. Rathke's cyst remains a rare medical condition with substantial research knowledge gaps. In this article, we synergize ChatGPT responses with a comprehensive case report of a child with Rathke's cyst as the primary symptom-growth and developmental delay. We explore the methods and feasibility of employing ChatGPT within this case report.

Multi-center application of a convolutional neural network for preoperative detection of cavernous sinus invasion in pituitary adenomas.

OBJECTIVE: Cavernous sinus invasion (CSI) plays a pivotal role in determining management in pituitary adenomas. The study aimed to develop a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model to diagnose CSI in multiple centers. METHODS: A total of 729 cases were retrospectively obtained in five medical centers with (n = 543) or without CSI (n = 186) from January 2011 to December 2021. The CNN model was trained using T1-enhanced MRI from two pituitary centers of excellence (n = 647). The other three municipal centers (n = 82) as the external testing set were imported to evaluate the model performance. The area-under-the-receiver-operating-characteristic-curve values (AUC-ROC) analyses were employed to evaluate predicted performance. Gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) was used to determine models' regions of interest. RESULTS: The CNN model achieved high diagnostic accuracy (0.89) in identifying CSI in the external testing set, with an AUC-ROC value of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.88-0.97), better than CSI clinical predictor of diameter (AUC-ROC: 0.75), length (AUC-ROC: 0.80), and the three kinds of dichotomizations of the Knosp grading system (AUC-ROC: 0.70-0.82). In cases with Knosp grade 3A (n = 24, CSI rate, 0.35), the accuracy the model accounted for 0.78, with sensitivity and specificity values of 0.72 and 0.78, respectively. According to the Grad-CAM results, the views of the model were confirmed around the sellar region with CSI. CONCLUSIONS: The deep learning model is capable of accurately identifying CSI and satisfactorily able to localize CSI in multicenters.

A dynamic nomogram for predicting intraoperative brain bulge during decompressive craniectomy in patients with traumatic brain injury: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to investigate the risk factors associated with intraoperative brain bulge (IOBB), especially the computed tomography (CT) value of the diseased lateral transverse sinus, and to develop a reliable predictive model to alert neurosurgeons to the possibility of IOBB. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 937 patients undergoing traumatic decompressive craniectomy. A total of 644 patients from Fuzong Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University were included in the development cohort, and 293 patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College were included in the external validation cohort. Univariate and multifactorial logistic regression analyses identified independent risk factors associated with IOBB. The logistic regression models consisted of independent risk factors, and receiver operating characteristic curves, calibration, and decision curve analyses were used to assess the performance of the models. Various machine learning models were used to compare with the logistic regression model and analyze the importance of the factors, which were eventually jointly developed into a dynamic nomogram for predicting IOBB and published online in the form of a simple calculator. RESULTS: IOBB occurred in 93/644 (14.4%) patients in the developmental cohort and 47/293 (16.0%) in the validation cohort. Univariate and multifactorial regression analyses showed that age, subdural hematoma, contralateral fracture, brain contusion, and CT value of the diseased lateral transverse sinus were associated with IOBB. A logistic regression model (full model) consisting of the above risk factors had excellent predictive power in both the development cohort [area under the curve (AUC)=0.930] and the validation cohort (AUC=0.913). Among the four machine learning models, the AdaBoost model showed the best predictive value (AUC=0.998). Factors in the AdaBoost model were ranked by importance and combined with the full model to create a dynamic nomogram for clinical application, which was published online as a practical and easy-to-use calculator. CONCLUSIONS: The CT value of the diseased lateral transverse is an independent risk factor and a reliable predictor of IOBB. The online dynamic nomogram formed by combining logistic regression analysis models and machine learning models can more accurately predict the possibility of IOBBs in patients undergoing traumatic decompressive craniectomy.

Ectopic Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumor: A Case Report Written With the Help of ChatGPT.

ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chat robot program developed by OpenAI (OpenAI Incorporated, Mission District, San Francisco, USA). It is a natural-language processing tool driven by artificial intelligence technology. It can complete tasks such as writing emails, video scripts, copywriting, translation, coding, and writing papers. At present, several studies have been conducted on the use of this tool for academic writing, so we report a rare case of suprasellar ectopic pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (PitNET) secreting growth hormones, in a female 53-year-old patient with facial changes and hypertrophy of her hands and feet for six years. When asking questions on unusual topics, ChatGPT can provide answers but not specific ones, and similar to most machine learning solutions, verifying the correctness of information is a problem. Question asked from ChatGPT: Summarize ectopic pituitary neuroendocrine tumor. "Suprasellar heterotopic pituitary neuroendocrine tumors refer to tumors formed by the heterotopic growth of pituitary neuroendocrine tumor cells in the sellar region other than the pituitary glands. This tumor is common in middle-aged women, and it often manifests as headache, visual impairment, and endocrine dysfunction. Diagnosis is usually made by combining history, physical examination, blood tests, and imaging. Treatment is primarily performed through surgical resection of the tumor, radiotherapy, and drug therapy, and the prognosis is mostly good." The content in quotation marks is generated by ChatGPT.

Cranial venous-outflow obstruction promotes neuroinflammation via ADAM17/solTNF-α/NF-κB pathway following experimental TBI.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a global public health problem. As an important cause of secondary injury, cerebrovascular reaction can cause secondary bleeding, venous sinus thrombosis, and malignant brain swelling. Recent clinical studies have confirmed that intracranial venous return disorder is closely related to the prognosis of patients, yet the specific molecular mechanism involved in this process is still unclear. This study used an acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) model with cranial venous outflow obstruction (CVO) to explore how CVO aggravates the pathological process after TBI, especially for inflammation and tissue damage. The results suggest that intracranial venous return disorder exacerbates neurological deficits and brain edema in rats with ASDH by aggravating the destruction of endothelial cell tight junctions (TJs) proteins and promoting the expression of inflammatory factors, the activation of microglia and expression of recombinant A disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 (ADAM17) as well as the secretion of solTNF-α, a soluble form of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), which in turn increase IκB-α ((inhibitor of the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB) and NF-κB p65. Our study revealed a molecular basis of how CVO aggravates inflammation and tissue damage.

Risk factors of prognosis in older patients with severe brain injury after surgical intervention.

BACKGROUND: Older patients (aged ≥ 60 years) with severe brain injury have a high mortality and disability rate. The objective of this retrospective study was to assess the clinical risk factors of prognosis in older patients with severe brain injury after surgical intervention and to analyze the prognosis of the surviving group of patients 1 year after discharge. METHODS: Clinical data of older patients with severe brain injury who were admitted to two neurosurgical centers between January 2010 and December 2020 were collected. Patient age, sex, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score at admission, underlying disease, mechanisms of injury, abnormal pupillary reflex, head computed tomography imaging findings (such as hematoma type),intraoperative brain swelling and other factors were reviewed. All the patients were categorized into a good prognosis (survival) group and a poor prognosis (death) group by the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS); also, the related factors affecting the prognosis were screened and the independent risk factors were identified by the Binary logistic regression analysis. GOS was used to evaluate the prognosis of the surviving group of patients 1 year after discharge. RESULTS: Out of 269 patients, 171 (63.6%) survived, and 98 (36.4%) died during hospitalization. Univariate analysis showed that age, GCS score at admission, underlying diseases, abnormal pupillary reflex, the disappearance of ambient cistern, the midline structure shift, intraoperative brain swelling, oxygen saturation < 90%, and cerebral hernia were risk factors for the prognosis of older patients with severe brain injury after surgical intervention. Multivariate analysis showed that age, underlying diseases, disappearance of ambient cistern, Oxygen saturation < 90% and intraoperative brain swelling were independent risk factors of the prognosis in the population. The effect of surgical intervention differed among various age groups at 1-year follow-up after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this retrospective study confirmed that age, underlying diseases, disappearance of ambient cistern, intraoperative brain swelling, and oxygen saturation < 90% are associated with poor prognosis in older postoperative patients with severe brain injury. Surgical intervention may improve prognosis and reduce mortality in older patients (age < 75 years). But for those patients (age ≥ 75 years), the prognosis was poor after surgical intervention.

Vascular flow empty shadow in pituitary neuroendocrine tumors: A case report and review of literature.

To investigate the blood supply characteristics and surgical significance of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors with vascular flow void signal in tumors. The clinical data of one case of giant pituitary neuroendocrine tumor with vascular flow void signal were reported, and the related literature was reviewed. In this case of pituitary neuroendocrine tumor, the blood sinus from the superior pituitary artery was seen in the left rear of the tumor before the first operation, showing irregular low signal. Subsequently, the tumor recurred 46 mm high, grew upwards, and had no cystic degeneration. The blood vessels that showed flow voids signal in magnetic resonance imaging originated from the inferior pituitary artery. The tumor was removed through the frontal lobe through the lateral ventricle approach, and desirable results were obtained. Vascular flow void signals in giant pituitary neuroendocrine tumors are rare, which suggests a sufficient and rich arterial blood supply. Arterial blood supply from below such tumors should be properly handled during the operation.