Safety and Efficacy of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for the Management of Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Retrospective and Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Medical management is the first line of care for patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN), and carbamazepine is the drug of choice used alone or in combination with other drugs. Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has been an established option in the management of refractory TN based on its noninvasiveness and robust safety profile. Our study aims to confirm the safety and assess the efficacy of GKRS in the management of TN. Material and Methods: A retrospective review of the patients with refractory TN treated with GKRS from 1997 to March 2019 by the senior author was carried out. Out of 194 eligible patients, detailed clinical information was not available in 41 patients. The remaining 153 patients' case files (post-GKRS cohort) were reviewed, and data obtained were collated, computed, and analyzed. An additional cross-sectional analysis was carried out telephonically in the post-GKRS cohort in January 2021 using Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain scoring, to obtain the long-term efficacy of GKRS in TN. Results: The majority of the patients (96.1%) received a radiation dose of 80 Gy. At 6 months, 94.8% of patients had satisfactory response to GKRS. Follow-up ranged between 1 and 7.5 years. The recurrence rate was 9.2% and the complication rate was 4.6%. Facial numbness was the commonest complication. No mortality was reported. The cross-sectional arm of the study had a response rate of 39.2% (60 patients). Adequate pain relief (BNI I/II/IIIa/IIIb) was reported in 85% of patients. Conclusion: GKRS is a safe and effective modality of treatment for TN without any major complications. Both short-term and long-term efficacies are excellent.

Serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein as a biomarker for predicting development and progression of knee osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: Current modes of diagnosing and monitoring knee osteoarthritis (OA) are based on weight bearing radiographs usually made by the time joint destruction is already established. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a breakdown product of cartilage and its serum levels may be a potential indicator of early destruction in OA. This study aimed to ascertain the usefulness of serum COMP (sCOMP) in diagnosis and monitoring of knee joint OA within the study environment. METHODS: Ninety consenting adults were recruited. In the control group, 45 subjects having a diagnosis of knee OA had clinical and radiological grading done and blood samples taken for assay of sCOMP using the sandwich ELISA method. Forty-five volunteers with no features of osteoarthritis also had serum collected for sCOMP assay. Values obtained were then cross referenced with demographic indices, clinical and radiological severity grade to assess for relationships. RESULTS: Serum COMP was found to be significantly elevated (p = 0.0001) in the study group. The mean values and standard deviation of sCOMP were 3400 ± 1042.9 ng/ml and 2222 ± 605.6 ng/ml for the study and control groups, respectively. Higher values of sCOMP were found to be associated with higher clinical and radiological grades of OA. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that sCOMP is significantly higher in patients with knee OA than in those without the disease. Values of sCOMP were also found to increase with severity of knee OA, indicating the possibility of its use as a marker of diagnosis and severity.

Intra-operative wound irrigation with ceftriaxone does not reduce surgical site infection in clean neurosurgical procedures.

BACKGROUND: The spectrum of post-operative infections in neurosurgical practice includes scalp infection, bone flap osteomyelitis, meningitis and intracranial abscesses and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. There is a wide variation across neurosurgical centres in the use of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis. The aim of this study was to determine whether intraoperative wound irrigation with ceftriaxone provides additional prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) in patients already receiving the drug parenterally. METHODS: This was a prospective randomized clinical study of patients 18 years and above scheduled for clean neurosurgical procedures and assigned to either study or control group using table of random numbers. Both groups had parenteral ceftriaxone at the induction of anaesthesia and for 24-h post-operation. In the study group, there was intra-operative wound irrigation with a ceftriaxone-in-normal saline solution while the wound in the control group was irrigated with only normal saline. Clinical and or laboratory evidence of SSI was used as the outcome measure. RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-two patients aged 18 years and above were recruited for this study. There were 66 patients in each group. The overall frequency of SSI was 2.27% (3 out of 132). The frequency in the ceftriaxone group was 3% (2 out of 66) while that in the control group was 1.5% (1 out of 66). These values were not significantly different (p = 1.00). There were four cases of wound edge necrosis, three of which developed SSIs. CONCLUSION: In this study, intraoperative antibiotic irrigation did not confer additional benefit in the prevention of SSI in clean neurosurgical procedures in which prophylactic intravenous antibiotics were administered to the patient. Wound edge necrosis was the most significant but preventable risk factor for the development of SSI in the setting of this work.

Pediatric Meningiomas in Southwestern Nigeria: A Single-Institutional Experience.

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas are the second commonest intracranial tumors in many places worldwide. They are rare in the pediatric age group, however, and most studies have been able to document only a few patients. Meningiomas in pediatric patients have also been shown to behave differently from those in the adult population. This study was done to examine histologic types of meningiomas seen in pediatric patients from a predominantly African population using the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) grading system for intracranial tumors. METHODS: Data from the operating logs of patients and histology reports of the samples sent to the pathology department during the study period were extracted. The data obtained were the age, sex, location of the intracranial tumor, histologic diagnosis, WHO grade, and tumor recurrence. RESULTS: Nine pediatric age patients were found among the 166 surgically excised meningiomas received at the pathology department in our institution over a 19-year period. The age range was from 8 months to 17 years. There was a male-to-female ratio of 1:2 with a female predominance. Six tumors were basally located. All tumors were WHO grade I with transitional meningiomas being the commonest followed by meningothelial. There was no history of recurrence in any of the tumors after complete surgical excisions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed the rarity of meningiomas in the study population, and there was a predominance of basally located tumors.