Contemporary Approaches to Preventing and Treating Infections of Novel Intrathecal Neurostimulation Devices.

INTRODUCTION: Contemporary approaches to surgical site infections have evolved significantly over the last several decades in response to the economic pressures of soaring health care costs and increasing patient expectations of safety. Neurosurgeons face multiple unique challenges when striving to avoid as well as manage surgical implant infections. The tissue compartment, organ system, or joint is characterized by biological factors and physical forces that may not be universally relevant. Such implants, once rare, are now routine. Although the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of surgical site infections involving neural implants has advanced, guidelines are ever changing, and the incidence still exceeds acceptable levels. We assess the impact of these factors on a new class of implantable neuromodulation devices. METHODS: The available evidence along with practice patterns were examined and organized to establish relevant groupings for continuing evaluation and to propose justifiable recommendations for the treatment of infections that might arise in the case of intradural spinal cord stimulators. RESULTS: Few studies in the modern era have systematically evaluated preventive behaviors that were applied to intradural neural implants alone. We anticipate that future efforts will focus even more on the investigation of modifiable factors along a continuum from bacterially repellant implants to weight management. Early diagnosis could offer the best hope for device salvage but to date has been largely understudied. CONCLUSIONS: Historically, prevention is the cornerstone to infection mitigation. However, immediate diagnosis and hardware salvage have not received the attention deserved, and that approach may be especially important for intradural devices.

An International Radiosurgery Research Foundation Multicenter Retrospective Study of Gamma Ventral Capsulotomy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) across its full spectrum of severity is a psychiatric illness affecting ∼2% to 3% of the general population and results in significant functional impairment. There are few large patient series regarding Gamma ventral capsulotomy (GVC). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinical outcomes of severe medically refractory OCD treated with GVC. METHODS: This is an international, multicenter, retrospective cohort study. Forty patients with pre-GVC Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) scores ≥ 24 (indicating severe OCD) were included. GVC was performed with 1 or 2 isocenters with a median maximum dose of 135 Gy (range, 120-180 Gy). Patients were deemed "responders" to GVC if there was ≥35% reduction of follow-up Y-BOCS scores, and considered in remission if their Y-BOCS scores were ≤16. The median follow-up was 36 mo (range, 6-96 mo). RESULTS: The median pre-SRS Y-BOCS score was 35 (range, 24-40). Eighteen patients (45%) were considered "responders," and 16 (40%) of them were in remission at their last follow-up. Nineteen patients (47.5%) remained stable with Y-BOCS of 33 (range, 26-36) following GVC, whereas 3 patients (7.5%) experienced worsening in Y-BOCS scores. Patients treated with 2 isocenters were more likely to have improvement in Y-BOCS score at 3 and 5 yr (P < .0005). Ten patients (25%) experienced post-GVC mood disturbance and neurological complications in 3 patients (7.5%). One patient developed radiation necrosis with edema that improved with steroids. CONCLUSION: GVC serves as a reasonable treatment strategy for severe medical refractory OCD. Patients treated with 2 isocenters were more likely to have substantial improvement in OCD.

Changing paradigm in the management of elderly patients with intracranial aneurysms: An institutional review.

Optimal treatment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in elderly patients has not yet been well established. We have investigated the clinical and radiological outcomes and predictors of unfavorable outcome of IAs in elderly patients. Radiological and clinical data of 85 elderly patients from 2010 through 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Significant differences between the groups were determined by a chi-square test. Regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of unfavorable outcome. Among the 85 patients with IAs, the number of patients with >7mm size aneurysm (p=0.01), diabetes mellitus (DM) (p=0.02), smoking (0.009) and Hunt and Hess grade 4-5 (p=0.003) was significantly higher in the ruptured group compared to the unruptured group. Similarly, the number of patients who underwent clipping was higher in the ruptured aneurysm group (p=0.01). The overall clinical outcome was comparatively better in the unruptured group (p=0.03); however, microsurgical clipping of aneurysms provides a significantly higher rate of complete aneurysmal occlusion (p=0.008). Overall, there was no significant difference in outcome in respect to treatment approach. In regression analysis, hypertension (HTN), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), prior stroke, ruptured aneurysms and partial occlusion of aneurysms were identified as predictors of unfavorable outcome of IAs. Intracranial aneurysms in elderly patients reveals that endovascular treatment provides better clinical outcome; however, microsurgical clipping yields higher complete occlusion. Retreatment of residual aneurysms was comparatively more in the coiling group. Practice pattern has shifted from clipping to coiling for aneurysms in posterior circulation but not for aneurysms in anterior circulation.

Incidence, hospital costs and in-hospital mortality rates of epidural hematoma in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: This study provides the first United States (US) national data regarding frequency, cost and mortality rate of epidural hematoma (EDH) and determines the factors affecting the morbidity and deaths in the patients with EDH undergoing surgical evacuation. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed by searching the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2003 to 2010, the largest all payer database of non-federal community hospitals in the US. All cases of EDH were indentified using ICD-9 codes. RESULTS: A total of 5189 admissions were identified in the NIS database, and incidence was highest in the second decade (33.4%). The median length of stay in the hospital was about 4 days in each year (2003-2010) without significant difference. The percent of discharge disposition other than home was about 2-3% in the entire cohort, with the highest in 2009 (3%). The average cost per admission increased significantly (80%) from $45,850 in 2003 to $82,800 in 2010. The inhospital mortality and complication rate was 3.5% and 2.9%, respectively. Factors affecting in-hospital mortality rate were age (≤18 yr vs. >18 yr, P<0.001), insurance type (medicare vs. private insurance, P<0.001), co-morbidities (high vs. low, P<0.001), hospital volume (high vs. low volume, P<0.001), physician's case volumes (high vs. low volume, P<0.02), hospital type (teaching vs. non-teaching, P<0.01) and hospital region (South vs. others, P<0.02). Similarly, factors affecting adverse outcome at discharge were age (≤18 yr vs. >18 yr, P<0.001), female gender (P<0.001), median income (fourth quartile vs. other, P<0.001), ethnicity (African-American vs. non-African-American, P<0.02), insurance type (medicare vs. private insurance, P<0.001), co-morbidities (high vs. low, P<0.001), hospital case volume (4th quartile volume vs. other, P<0.001), physician's case volume (4th quartile volume vs. other, P<0.0001), hospital type (teaching vs. non-teaching, hospital bed size (small vs. large, P<0.001), hospital region (Northeast vs. others, P<0.001) and hospital location (urban vs. rural, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Nationally, there has been no significant change in the frequency of EDH. However, its cost is increasing rapidly.