Cervicobrachial neuralgia due to vertebral artery loop.

PURPOSE: The main anatomic variations should be taught along with the classical anatomy curriculum, since they can mislead both diagnosis and treatment. We report here a clinical and radiological case of left C6 cervicobrachial neuralgia recurrence due to a vertebral artery loop, we then describe 13 published cases of such neurovascular conflicts. CASE: A 51-year-old woman suffered from recurrence of C6 cervicobrachial neuralgia after an initial C5-C6 decompression-fusion. Additional cervical angio-MR and CT scans found a tortuous aspect of the left vertebral artery that came into conflict with the left C6 spinal root, just after its emergence of the C5-C6 intervertebral foramen. A large posterior decompression was performed including a C5 and C6 left lateral mass resection to enlarge the foraminal space. The vertebral artery was kept in place. The patient reported a slow but consistent decrease in pain that disappeared after 3 months. Thirteen cases of a compressive vertebral loop are thereafter detailed. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION: Vascular precursors disarrangements can lead to a vertebral artery loop in contact with emerging cervical roots and potential clinical impact. This differential diagnosis should be considered for cervico-brachial neuralgia management. Moreover, the present case highlights the key role of a careful preoperative imaging assessment, as well as the need for robust knowledge of anatomy.

Transdural Spinal Cord Herniation: An Exceptional Complication of Thoracoscopic Discectomy: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.

Thoracic disc herniation is a rare and severe condition, whose treatment may have complications including dural tears. Although benign in most cases, dural tears may induce iatrogenic transdural herniation of the spinal cord. The video demonstrates the diagnosis and surgical treatment of iatrogenic transdural herniation of the spinal cord. Here, we report a case of spinal cord herniation after thorascopic treatment of a thoracic disc herniation (DH). A 28-yr-old male presented with several years of left lower extremity weakness and was found to have a T6-7 DH. He underwent DH resection through video assisted mini-thoracotomy at another institution. In the immediate postoperative period, he developed a Brown-Sequard syndrome with left leg weakness. The surgeon decided not to reoperate and the patient improved with rehabilitation, allowing him to walk again. At 6 mo postop, he experienced sudden neurologic worsening but did not present to our clinic until 6 mo later. At this time, he had near complete paraplegia with bilateral lower extremity spasticity and central neuropathic pain. MRI showed a pseudo-meningocele and features suggesting a lateral spinal cord herniation. After a multidisciplinary meeting, we elected to perform a posterolateral approach with costo-arthro-pediculectomy and durotomy to repair the SC herniation. Immediately postop, the patient had a slight improvement in right lower extremity function, with decreased pain and spasticity. This case shows a transdural SC herniation, a rare complication after resection of DH. It is possible that an unreported or unrecognized dural tear at the time of the initial surgery, combined with the negative pressure of the thoracic cavity, put the patient at risk for this particular complication. The authors state that the patient gave his informed consent.

New Insights into Expression of Hormonal Receptors by Meningiomas.

OBJECTIVE: Meningiomas have a female predilection, which is even stronger for spinal than for intracranial meningiomas. The relationship between meningiomas and endogenous or exogenous sex hormones such as cyproterone acetate (CPA) is well documented, yet their underlying mechanism remains unknown. Clarification of the expression profile of hormonal receptors by meningiomas would help us to better understand their hormonal susceptibility. METHODS: We used tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry to determine the receptor status of the 3 main sex hormones: androgen (AR), estrogen, and progesterone (PR) in 30 intracranial meningiomas, 30 spinal meningiomas, and 30 meningiomas developed on CPA. RESULTS: AR status was positive in 73% of meningiomas in the intracranial group, 87% of meningiomas in the CPA group, and in all meningiomas in the spinal group. Estrogen status was positive in only 7% of meningiomas in the intracranial group and in only 3% of meningiomas in the CPA group but in 30% of meningiomas in the spinal group. PR status was positive in 90% of meningiomas in the intracranial group, in 97% of meningiomas in the CPA group, and in 87% of meningiomas in the spinal group. These specific hormonal receptor statuses based on immunoreactive score were reflected on staining intensities. Furthermore, AR and PR expression was correlated in each group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that intracranial meningiomas, spinal meningiomas, and meningiomas developed on CPA express specific hormonal receptor patterns. This result invites the scientific community to review the potential role of AR in the unbalanced sex ratio of meningiomas.

Patients with Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and Surgery: Guidelines and Checklist Proposal.

The management of patients with novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) represents a new challenge for medical and surgical teams. Each operating room in the world should be prepared thoughtfully, and the development of a protocol and patient route seems mandatory. An adequate degree of protection must be used. We propose recommendations to help different professionals in the establishment of protocols for the management of patients with COVID-19. We also offer a checklist that could be used in the operating room.

Histomolecular characterization of intracranial meningiomas developed in patients exposed to high-dose cyproterone acetate: an antiandrogen treatment.

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors in adults. The relationship between meningiomas and exogenous sex hormones such as cyproterone acetate (CPA) is well documented, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Defining the histomolecular status of meningiomas developed on CPA would help us to better understand the oncogenesis of these tumors. METHODS: We identified 30 patients operated for a meningioma after long-term high-dose CPA therapy and with a history of CPA discontinuation before establishing the indication for surgical intervention. We used array-comparative genomic hybridization (to characterize copy number changes in those 30 meningiomas and subsequently performed next-generation sequencing with the National Institute of Cancer (INCa) solid tumor panel, which is a targeted panel of clinically actionable genes. We also examined grade, type, and clinical features. RESULTS: We identified AKT1 mutations or PIK3CA mutations in 33.3% of CPA meningiomas. AKT1 and PIK3CA mutations were mutually exclusive. Enrichment in oncogenic PIK3CA mutations in the CPA cohort was detected. CPA meningiomas showed chromosomal stability and were located mainly in the skull base. Ninety percent of CPA meningiomas were low-grade meningiomas and 63.4% were meningotheliomas. Half of our CPA cohort had microcystic components. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that low-grade meningothelial meningiomas of the skull base are predominant in CPA meningiomas. We identified PIK3CA/AKT1 pathway as a hypothetical actor in onco-pharmacological interaction between meningiomas and CPA. This signaling pathway could be an interesting target for precision medicine trials in meningioma patients who have been subjected to CPA. Our results could invite the scientific community to review the current classification of meningiomas and to evolve toward more specific histomolecular classification.

Production and characterization of chimeric anti-HLA monoclonal antibodies targeting public epitopes as tools for standardizations of the anti-HLA antibody detection.

Two chimeric monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) were designed with variable parts of the mouse antibodies W6/32 and F3.3, and the human constant parts C-gamma1 and C-kappa. These chimeric MoAbs are specific for HLA-class I and HLA-class II public epitopes, respectively. The anti-class I MoAb recognizes all HLA-class I tested so far, and the anti-class II MoAb recognize all HLA-DR, DP, and only DQ antigens of the DQ2 subgroup. These Moabs were used as positive controls in routine tests for the detection of IgG anti-HLA antibodies in the sera of patients (Luminex, flow cytometry, and complement-dependent lymphocytotoxicity assay: CD-LCT). In tests with the LABScreen MIX assay, serial dilutions of the two MoAbs have allowed to determine the thresholds of detection by the Boltzmann sigmoidal regression. The thresholds of detection in mean of fluorescence intensity (MFI) were 926 and 866 for the anti-class I MoAb and the anti-class II MoAb, respectively. The thresholds defined as mean+3SD of MFI values obtained with 30 negative control sera were 411 and 251 for the anti-class I beads and the anti-class II beads, respectively. For the daily validation of the anti-HLA IgG antibodies screening by LABScreen MIX we decided to use the positive control MoAbs at three concentrations (5, 50, and 500ng/ml) and we measured the repeatability (<10%) and reproducibility (<16%) of the method. Used as positive controls in tests with the LABScreen Single Antigen kit, the two MoAbs allowed to estimate daily the quality of beads coated with HLA antigens. The two anti HLA MoAbs were also used as positive control in the cross-match assay by flow cytometry or CD-LCT. In total these two chimeric anti-HLA-MoAbs, which have no equivalent so far, are valuable positive controls for the daily validations of most techniques used for the detection of anti-HLA antibodies according to the good practice guidelines for laboratories.