Validation of Efficacy and Safety of TachoSil ® Tissue Sealant for Vessel Transposition in Microvascular Decompression.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Use of TachoSil ® as the transposition material of microvascular decompression (MVD) for hemifacial spasm (HFS) and trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is easy and safe to perform, but the efficacy and safety of this technique are unknown. This study attempted to validate the efficacy and safety of TachoSil ® as a transposition material of MVD. METHODS: A retrospective study of the surgical results and complications of 63 patients (35 HFS and 28 TN) treated by the TachoSil ® technique between January 2011 and December 2021 was conducted. The efficacy of the treatment was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Magnetic resonance imaging follow-up study was performed to detect any adverse events including a mass formation. RESULTS: The rate of complete disappearance of HFS was 91.4% at 1 year and estimated to be 85.7% after a 10-year follow-up. The rate of no pain without medication for TN was 85.4% at 1 year and estimated to be 69.0% after a 9-year follow-up. These surgical results are comparable with those previously reported. Flaking of TachoSil ® releasing the offending artery was only recognized in one case (1.6%). Therefore, TachoSil ® can be considered as an effective transposition material for MVD. TachoSil ® did not increase the rate of acute and subacute adverse events such as inflammation and delayed facial palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging follow-up identified no abnormalities including mass that suggested granuloma formation. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of the TachoSil ® technique for HFS and TN and the reliability of TachoSil ® as an adhesive material in MVD were verified. No adverse events associated with TachoSil ® use in MVD were found. We conclude that the TachoSil ® technique has relatively long efficacy and safety for MVD.

Radical resection of intracavernous chondrosarcoma using an intradural keyhole approach: how I do it.

BACKGROUND: Skull base chondrosarcoma is rare, arising from the clivus or petroclival junction, and usually presents as ocular motility disorders. Endonasal transsphenoidal surgery may be performed in some cases of midline clivus chondrosarcoma. Chondrosarcoma is located within the cavernous sinus and presents a softer/gelatinous mass and can be removed with suctions and curettage. We have been using a simple intradural keyhole transcavernous approach, avoiding a complex extradural transcavernous dissection. METHODS: The intracavernous chondrosarcoma was removed via a 5 mm keyhole opening over the Parkinson's triangle using a standard frontotemporal intradural approach. CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive keyhole surgical resection can be performed to eradicate skull base chondrosarcomas, avoiding complex extradural cranial base approaches.

Supraorbital keyhole approach for paraclinoid aneurysms clipping: A case series with literature review.

Background: Paraclinoid aneurysms (PcAs) are challenging aneurysms due to the complexity of their relation to the surrounding bony and neurovascular structures. Although over the past decade, their management strategy has shifted from transcranial to endovascular approaches; here, we try to revolve around a subcategory to which minimal invasive supraorbital keyhole (SOK) surgery is feasible depending on specific radiological criteria with a literature review. Methods: A group of unruptured PcAs was managed surgically, with a subset that was clipped through the SOK approach. They were selected by preoperative simulation images using 3D computed tomography (CT) angiography (CTA). We also conducted an extensive literature review based on a database available on PubMed and Google Scholar, the yielded cases from the literature review plus our cases were analyzed according to six parameters including their size, location, dome direction, need for clinoidectomy and proximal cervical control, and surgical outcome. Results: From February 2009 to August 2022, 49 cases of unruptured PcAs were managed by clipping, and of these, four cases were clipped by the SOK approach, in addition, four cases were yielded through the literature review. The sizes of the PcAs ranged from 3 to 8 mm. Their location fluctuated from anterior to the superomedial wall and their domes pointed superiorly except for one which points posteriorly. Six of eight cases required anterior clinoidectomy, the outcome was uneventful. Conclusion: A subset of unruptured PcAs are amenable to SOK with criteria such as unruptured small aneurysm (<10 mm) and projected superiorly. These characteristics can be determined preoperatively using CTA.

Atlantoaxial Stabilization Using C1 Lateral Mass and C2 Pedicle/Translaminar Screw Fixation by Intraoperative C1- and C2-Direct-Captured Navigation with Preoperative Computed Tomography Images.

In C1-C2 posterior fixation, the C1 lateral mass and C2 pedicle/translaminar screw insertion under spine navigation have been used frequently. To avoid the risk of neurovascular damage in atlantoaxial stabilization, we assessed the safety and effectiveness of a preoperative computed tomography (CT) image-based navigation system with intraoperative independent C1 and C2 vertebral registration. It is ideal when a reference frame can be linked directly to the C1 posterior arch for C1-direct-captured navigation, but there is a mechanical challenge. A new spine clamp-tracker system was implemented recently, which allows reliable C1- and C2- direct-captured navigation in nine patients with traumatic C2 fractures. In this way, there was no misalignment of C1-C2 screws. C1 lateral mass screws were used except for one case, and translaminar screws were primarily used as an anchor for C2. The C1 lateral mass screw locations, which are 19 mm laterally from the C1 posterior arch's center, are taken to be constant. However, there is one unusual circumstance in which using a C1 laminar hook instead of a C1 lateral mass screw appears to be a beneficial substitute. The increase of surgical accuracy for posterior C1-C2 screw fixation without cost constraints is significantly facilitated by intraoperative C1- and C2-direct-captured navigation with preoperative computed CT images.

Traumatic rupture of intracranial dermoid cyst with continuous fat droplet migration.

Background: The intracranial dermoid cyst (ICD) can be complicated by rupture and spilling of its contents with potentially dreadful consequences. Head trauma as a predisposing element for this phenomenon is extremely rare. Few reports address the diagnosis and management of trauma-related rupture of ICD. However, there is a pronounced knowledge gap related to the long-term follow-up and the fate of the leaking contents. Here, we present a unique case of traumatic rupture of ICD complicated by continuous fat particle migration within the subarachnoid space with its surgical implications and outcome. Case Description: A 14-year-old girl had an ICD rupture following a vehicle collision. The cyst was located near the foramen ovale with intra and extradural extensions. Initially, we opted to follow the patient clinically and radiologically as she had no symptoms, and the imaging showed no red flags. Over the next 24 months, the patient remained asymptomatic. However, the sequential brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed significant continuous migration of the fat within the subarachnoid space, with the droplets noticed to increase in the third ventricle. That is considered an alarming sign of potentially serious complications impacting the patient's outcome. Based on the above, the ICD was completely resected through an uncomplicated microsurgical procedure. On follow-up, the patient is well, with no new radiological findings. Conclusion: Trauma-related ruptured ICD may have critical consequences. Persistent migration of dermoid fat can be managed with surgical evacuation as a viable option to prevent those potential complications such as obstructive hydrocephalus, seizures, and meningitis.

Glioependymal cyst in the medulla oblongata - A case report.

Background: Glioependymal cysts (GECs) are rare benign lesions that can be found anywhere along the neuroaxis, with most of the reports denoting supratentorial location. Here, we introduce a rare case of successfully treated glioependymal cysts lying in an uncommon location, namely medulla oblongata. Case Description: A 69-year-old lady presented with progressive unsteadiness and swallowing disturbances, and brain magnetic resonance imaging showed a dorsally located lesion within the medulla oblongata; based on the presentation and radiological features, surgical intervention was deemed mandatory. The suboccipital midline approach was used to perform marsupialization of the cyst with shunting through a syringosubarachnoid shunt to prevent future recurrence, and the patient outcome was improved. Conclusion: Medulla Oblongata's location for glioependymal cysts proposed unique diagnostic and operative challenges that may require highlighting for practicing neurosurgeons.

[A Case of Bilateral Trigeminal Neuralgia and the Possible Onset Mechanisms Based on the Operative Findings].

Several cases of bilateral trigeminal neuralgia(TN)have been reported;however, the possible onset mechanism has rarely been discussed. We encountered a case of bilateral TN occurring in two stages. A 64-year-old woman presented with left TN. Magnetic resonance imaging showed the transverse pontine vein adhering to the left trigeminal root and superior cerebellar artery adhering to the right trigeminal root;however, no symptoms were noted. Immediately after microvascular decompression(MVD)on the left side, TN disappeared completely. However, 2 years postoperatively, the patient presented with right TN. The second MVD surgery revealed that the right cerebellar surface severely adhered to the dura mater, particularly under the surface of the tentorium. The arachnoid membrane at the cerebellopontine angle was slightly adhered. The patient was completely free from pain after the second MVD. The intraoperative findings suggested that the brain stem may have shifted and the cerebellopontine cistern may have narrowed because of cerebellar adhesion to the surrounding structures and arachnoid adhesion. We speculate that such structural changes in the posterior fossa after the first operation may have caused the asymptomatic vascular adhesion to change into the symptomatic offending adhesion over time.

Surgical consideration of cervical dumbbell tumors.

BACKGROUND: Nineteen patients with cervical dumbbell tumors treated surgically were analyzed retrospectively. METHODS: Surgical strategies for dumbbell tumor were discussed from the perspective of safe, less-invasive surgery. RESULTS: Patients included 6 men and 13 women, with a mean age at the time of surgery of 48.3 years (range, 25-70 years). Underlying pathologies included 16 schwannomas, 2 neurofibromas, and 1 double tumor (schwannoma and meningioma). According to Eden's classification, one patient was classified as Type 1, 5 as Type 2, 8 as Type 3, and 5 as Type 4. In 13 cases, tumors were excised through the posterior approach alone, compared to five cases using the anterior approach. One case was excised using combined anterior and posterior approaches. Facetectomy was not performed in 18 cases. In one case, the facet joint on one side had already destroyed and needed instrumentation. Tumors were totally excised in all cases. Postoperatively, the patients did not display any further neurological deficit, with the exception of transient radiculopathy in two patients. Major surgical complications and cerebrospinal fluid leakage were not seen. Tumor recurrence and spinal segmental instability were not found during follow-up period (mean, 41.6 months). CONCLUSIONS: Dumbbell tumor surgery requires sufficient debulking of the epidural and paravertebral mass, using intraoperative nerve stimulation and Doppler ultrasonography to detect the vertebral artery. When using a posterior approach, recapping laminoplasty using an ultrasonic bone curette is very useful to remove tumor without sacrificing facet joints.

Thoracolumbar extradural arachnoid cyst--three surgical case reports.

Three cases of symptomatic extradural arachnoid cyst were treated by surgery. Total excision of the cyst followed by tight closure of the fistula by suture was achieved in all 3 cases. Surgery improved the neurological deficits but urinary incontinence persisted in all three patients. Obliteration of the fistula is considered to be important at surgery from the etiological perspective of the cyst. There are many surgical options, but surgical removal of the cyst and obliteration of the communication usually leads to prompt improvement in neurological deficits. Instability, malalignment, and worsening scoliosis are well-recognized postoperative complications of excessive laminotomy, but the exposure should be wide enough to cover the cyst completely at the operation. Wide exposure of the entire cyst is preferable to avoid missing the fistula and to identify any adhesions or fistula between the cyst and the dura. Identification of the fistula location based on preoperative imaging studies is also important.

Recapping hemilaminoplasty for spinal surgical disorders using ultrasonic bone curette.

OBJECTIVE: The authors present a novel method of the recapping hemilaminoplasty in a retrospective study of patients with spinal surgical disorders. This report describes the surgical technique and the results of hemilaminoplasty using an ultrasonic bone curette. The aim of this study was to examine the safety and effectiveness of the hemilaminoplasty technique with ultrasonic bone curette. METHODS: Between April 2003 and July 2011, 33 patients with various spinal diseases (17 spinal tumors, 5 dural arteriovenous fistulas, 3 syringomyelia, 2 sacral perineural cysts, and 2 arachnoid cysts) were treated microsurgically by using an ultrasonic bone curette with scalpel blade and lightweight handpiece. The ultrasonic bone curette was used for division of lamina. After resection of the lesion, the excised lamina was replaced exactly in situ to its original anatomic position with a titanium plate and screw. Additional fusion technique was not required and the device was easy to handle. All patients were observed both neurologically and radiologically by dynamic plain radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scan. RESULTS: The operation was performed successfully and there were no instrument-related complications such as dural laceration, nerve root injury, and vessels injury. The mean number of resected and restored lamina was 1.7. CT confirmed primary bone fusion in all patients by 12 months after surgery. CONCLUSION: The ultrasonic bone curette is a useful instrument for recapping hemilaminoplasty in various spinal surgeries. This method allows anatomical reconstruction of the excised bone to preserve the posterior surrounding tissues.

Minimally invasive central corpectomy for ossified posterior longitudinal ligament in the cervical spine.

Minimally invasive central corpectomy (MICC) for cervical segmental ossified posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) is described. The procedure of MICC includes upper- or lower-half central corpectomy of the involved cervical spine, transdiscal decompression of the adjacent disc level, dissection and partial removal of the OPLL, removal of the OPLL behind the vertebral body via these windows, and fusion with cylindrical titanium cages. Anterior plate fixation is not necessary. From January 2008 to December 2009 we surgically treated three patients with cervical OPLL by MICC. All three patients showed remarkable improvement of their symptoms within a few days after the operation. No neurological or radiological complication was observed during that period. MICC is beneficial in avoiding complete corpectomy and long fusion, usage of an anterior plate, and usage of a large external orthosis. MICC also reduces the risk of postoperative esophageal perforation due to a screw backing out of the plate.

[Postoperative patterns of improvement of symptoms and degrees of satisfaction in families of patients after operations for definite idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus: a long-term follow-up study].

PURPOSE: To clarify the patterns of improvement of pre- and post-operative symptoms and family satisfaction in patients with definite idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPN) who responded well to shunt intervention. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The subjects included 40 patients definitively diagnosed with iNPH and who were followed up for one year or longer (age, 61-85; male-to-female ratio, 18: 22). The study focused on (1) preoperative clinical symptoms, (2) improvements in symptoms at 1, 3, 5, and 12 months after surgery, and the satisfaction of the families based on medical results of the Zarit caregiver burden interview, and infomation through questionnaires to medical personnel. RESULTS: (1) The major symptoms were gait disturbance (G, n=38), dementia (D, n=10), and urinary incontinence (U, n=23). G and D appeared as initial symptoms in 30 and 10 cases, respectively. (2) The rates of postoperative improvement at 1, 3, 5, and 12 months were 94.7%, 94.7%, 97.4%, and 94.7% for G, 43.8%, 62.5%, 71.9%, and 84.4% for D, and 78.3%, 86.96%, 86.96%, and 91.3% for U, respectively. G and U cases improved during the postoperative early stage, and D improved gradually from after the third postoperative month. The family satisfaction before surgery and at 1, 3, 5, and 12 months after surgery was 72.5 +/- 12.8, 68.1 +/- 15.4, 55.7 +/- 9.6, 52.9 +/- 11.4, and 47.3 +/- 7.9 points, respectively. The rate of improvement in satisfaction was higher for D. The satisfaction of the medical personnel was 88 percent (+) at 1 month and tended to remain high for 12 months. CONCLUSION: (1) Preoperative gait disturbance is a major initial symptom in definitively diagnosed iNPN. (2) Postoperative improvement of G and U is obtained at an early stage. In contrast, D tends to improve gradually from after the third postoperative month. The family satisfaction increases as the symptom of D improve. The satisfaction of the medical personnel tends to remain high after the first postoperative month. This study investigated the results of quantitative analyses of the patients symptoms.

Pathophysiology of cerebral circulatory disorders in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

This study was conducted to elucidate the pathologic conditions of cerebral circulatory disorders in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). Among 44 possible iNPH patients, 40 patients underwent shunt surgery based on diagnostic flow charts plotted by the Southern Tohoku method and were evaluated to be shunt-effective at the end of the first post-surgical month. The cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured by N-isopropyl-((123)I)-P-iodo-amphetamine single photon emission computed tomography (mean, mCBF; cortical region, cCBF; thalamus-basal ganglia region, tbCBF on autoradiography [ARG] method) and the perfusion patterns of the cerebral cortex were measured based on three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection (3D-SSP) Z-score images, before and 1 month after the surgery in all 40 subjects. The mCBF rose significantly from 32.1 +/- 2.74 ml/100 g/min before surgery to 39.8 +/- 3.02 ml/100 g/min after surgery (p < 0.03). Investigation of the change of CBF revealed reductions in the cCBF (3 cases), tbCBF (9 cases), and cCBF + tbCBF (28 cases), with the reduced-cCBF group totaling 31 cases and the reduced-tbCBF group totaling 37 cases. Investigation of cerebral cortex hypoperfusion by 3D-SSP Z-score revealed 31 cases with hypoperfusion (frontal lobe type [19 cases], occipitotemporal lobe type [5 cases], mixed type [7 cases]) and nine cases with cortical normoperfusion (N). The pattern of reduction of the cortical blood flow on ARG method was favorably correlated with the pattern of hypoperfusion of the cerebral cortex on 3D-SSP Z-score images before surgery. A reduction of blood flow was found in the thalamus-basal ganglia region of all N type cases. The blood flow improved in 19 of 31 (61.3%) cases of the reduced-cCBF group and in 32 of 37 (86.5%) cases of the reduced-tbCBF group. All of the cases without detectable improvement exhibited increased blood flow in non-reduction areas. Investigation of the hypoperfusion patterns of the cerebral cortex on 3D-SSP Z-score images, revealed a reduction or disappearance of the hypoperfusion site in 19 of 31 (61.3%) cases, either no-change or a shift of the hypoperfusion site in 12 of 31 (38.7%) cases, and a correlation between the pattern of cortical blood flow reduction on ARG method and the pattern of cerebral cortex hypoperfusion on 3D-SSP Z-score images after surgery. Cerebral circulatory disorders in iNPH manifest as either of two pathophysiological conditions: the "circulatory disorder of the cerebral cortical region" and the "circulatory disorder of the thalamus-basal ganglia region." Various patterns develop according to the disease stage.

Experimental model of intracranial arteriovenous shunting in the acute stage.

A model of intracranial arteriovenous (AV) shunting must incorporate local hypoperfusion and simulate the hemodynamics of arteriovenous malformations. In this study, the hemodynamics of an intracranial AV shunt model in the acute stage were clarified. End-to-side anastomoses with a femoral vein graft were performed between a cortical branch of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and the superior sagittal sinus in anesthetized dogs. Local cerebral blood flow (l-CBF) was measured by laser Doppler blood flowmetry. l-CBF decreased suddenly by 34.2% when the shunt was opened in the ipsilateral MCA territory. Upon re-occlusion, l-CBF immediately equaled or exceeded the pre-opening value and returned to the pre-opening value within the next 15 minutes. Opening the shunt produced little change in l-CBF in the territory of the ipsilateral or contralateral anterior cerebral artery. The decrease in l-CBF was correlated with shunt volume only in the MCA territory. l-CBF manifested a PaCO(2)-dependent increase before shunt opening, but CO(2) reactivity was impaired after opening the shunt only in the MCA territory. This dog model features local hypoperfusion due to intracranial AV shunting and disturbance of CO(2) reactivity in the acute stage. The hemodynamics of this model will be confirmed in the chronic stage.