Utilization, surgical populations, centers, coverages, regional balance, and their influential factors of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease: a large-scale multicenter cross-sectional study from 1997 to 2021.

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an emerging and effective therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD). However, little is known about its utilization, surgical populations, centers, coverages, regional balance, and influential factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This large-scale multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted using a national census involving 74 Chinese centers. National DBS populations and centers for PD were investigated in 1997-2021, and regional sociodemographic features, surgical populations, related resources, and insurance policies in 2020 were explored. RESULTS: Since the first DBS surgery in 1997, a total of 38 122 PD patients from 349 centers underwent DBS by 2021, which covered 1.118% (1.108-1.129) of patients and 0.954% (0.933-0.976) of centers. Significant upward trends in the annual surgical population and coverages were observed with rapid climbing rates, while the annual surgical centers and their coverage showed two growth peaks in 2002-2006 and 2010-2018, correlating with clinical approvals and new technologies. A total of 103 070 (51 165-154 975) PD patients [2.088% (1.351-2.825) coverage] and 603 (72-1134) centers [1.356% (1.126-1.586) coverage] are predicted to conduct DBS by 2030. The new remotely programmed DBS technology was recoded as the first application in 2015 and rapidly increased to 2771 (47.39%, 46.11-48.67) patients with 10 507 remote programming sessions annually in 2021. Provinces in the eastern and central regions had better economic status, more surgical patients, higher insurance affordability, and more related resources than those in the western and northeastern regions. Higher gross domestic product per capita ( ß =5.041, 3.324-6.758 and ß =0.008, 0.004-0.012; all P <0.001) and more functional neurosurgery doctors ( ß =3.596, 0.353-6.839; P =0.031 and ß =0.010, 0.002-0.017; P =0.013) positively influenced surgical populations and coverages, while higher insurance levels ( ß =128.888, 64.702-193.075; P <0.001) positively influenced surgical coverages. CONCLUSION: Although surgical populations, centers, and coverages of DBS for PD have rapidly improved and are predicted to show future increases, this is still insufficient to cover potential eligible patients. Regionally imbalanced health coverage should be given attention to promote coordinated development.

Indocyanine Green-Assisted Endoscopic Transorbital Excision of Lateral Orbital Apex Cavernous Hemangioma.

Orbital apex lesions posed operative difficulties to neurosurgeons and ophthalmologists due to limited surgical corridor and close vicinity to cranial nerves and arteries. Lateral orbital apex lesions were traditionally operated via the transcranial route by neurosurgeons. Recently, only a handful of reports have described the use of endoscope alone for excision of lateral orbital apex lesion. Our group, with both endoscopic skull base neurosurgeons and oculoplastic surgeons, has adopted the endoscopic transorbital approach for orbital apex lesions. We also used an indocyanine green (ICG) endoscope to aid identification and dissection of orbital apex cavernous hemangioma, which otherwise can be difficult to differentiate from surrounding intraconal recti muscles. Video 1 captured the first reported case of excision of lateral orbital apex cavernous hemangioma via endoscopic transorbital approach, using a zero-degree ICG endoscope. This was a 64-year-old Chinese woman who presented with right eye painless blurring of vision with visual acuity of 0.6 and right relative afferent pupillary defect. Fundoscopic examination showed absence of right optic disc swelling, and automated visual field testing confirmed a superior and infratemporal visual field defect in the right eye. On magnetic resonance imaging, there was a 1-cm oval mass that was hypointense on T1-weighted and hyperintense on T2-weighted images, with slow enhancement, suggestive of cavernous hemangioma. Optical coherence tomography of the retinal nerve fiber layer showed evidence of subtle right nerve fiber layer thinning. Right endoscopic transorbital excision of the tumor was performed with an ICG-assisted endoscope. Lateral skin crease incision was followed by crescent-shaped superolateral orbital rim removal. Superior and inferior orbital fissures were identified after stripping off the periorbita. The meningoorbital band was divided to release the orbital apex from the middle fossa dura. The greater wing of sphenoid bone was drilled with a 3-mm high-speed diamond burr under irrigation to create space for dissection. Injection of ICG resulted in delayed enhancement of the lesion at around 1 minute and 30 seconds, in contrast to rapid enhancement of surrounding recti muscles at around 30 seconds. Incision of periorbita was guided by ICG enhancement of lesion. The tumor was dissected from the lateral rectus and superior division of oculomotor nerve and was excised en bloc. The supraorbital rim was reconstructed with 2 miniplates. Pathology confirmed the diagnosis of cavernous hemangioma. Postoperatively, the patient had good recovery, with right eye visual acuity of 0.8 and resolution of the relative afferent pupillary defect.

Molecular Identification of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei Tapeworm in Cases of Human Sparganosis, Hong Kong.

Human sparganosis is a foodborne zoonosis endemic in Asia. We report a series of 9 histologically confirmed human sparganosis cases in Hong Kong, China. All parasites were retrospectively identified as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei. Skin and soft tissue swelling was the most common symptom, followed by central nervous system lesions.

'Hemispherical asymmetry in the Meyer's Loop': a prospective study of visual-field deficits in 105 cases undergoing anterior temporal lobe resection for epilepsy.

OBJECTIVES: Visual-field deficits following temporal lobe surgery have been reported in the literature. In this prospective study, the authors analyse their experience of visual-field deficits in 105 consecutive cases undergoing temporal-lobe surgery performed by a single surgeon, with particular consideration to the laterality of the deficit and its functional implications. METHODS: 105 consecutive patients undergoing an anterior temporal lobe resection for epilepsy, between March 1998 and June 2004, were selected. The patient population had a mean age of 35 years (range 19-60 years); 53 had a left-sided resection and 52 a right-sided resection. 91 patients had mesial temporal sclerosis, three gangliogliomas, four dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumours (DNETs), two neurocytomas and two cavernomas, and in three cases the histology was inconclusive. Pre- and postoperative visual-field tests were obtained using the Humphrey Esterman binocular functional test for all cases. The test was set to stimulus white III, with a single intensity of 10 DB on the background of 31.5 ASB for all patients. A minimum follow-up period of 12 months postsurgery was employed. Postoperative MRI scans were carried out on all patients. 60 scans were randomly selected, and the extent of temporal lobe resection calculated manually for each. RESULTS: Of the 105 cases, 16 patients had a visual-field deficit postoperatively which was not present preoperatively: 12 following a left and four following a right-sided resection. The OR for incurring a postoperative visual-field defect following left versus right-sided surgery was 3.51 (95% CI 1.05 to 11.73, p=0.04). In four patients, the deficit was severe enough to preclude them from driving in the UK (three left- and one right-sided resection). There was no association between the extent of tissue resection and the incidence of postoperative visual-field deficits. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests left-/right-hemispherical asymmetry in the Geniculocalcarine tracts with field deficits being 3.5 times more likely following left-sided anterior temporal lobe resections compared with right-sided resections. This has significant implications on counselling patients for these procedures. MR tractography may provide an anatomical substrate for these clinical findings, perhaps revealing a more anterior course of the optic radiations within the temporal lobe in one hemisphere versus the other.

Predictors of outcome following Gamma Knife surgery for acromegaly.

OBJECT: Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) is gaining popularity in the treatment of patients with acromegaly after transsphenoidal tumor excision. In this paper, the authors examine the efficacy of GKS and predictors for biochemical remission. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed data spanning the period 1997­2008 in their hospital Gamma Knife statistics database. Forty patients with a mean age of 64 years (range 19­73 years) underwent GKS for acromegaly during that period. Transsphenoidal subtotal tumor excision had been performed prior to GKS in all these patients, except for 3 deemed to be at high surgical risk. All GKS treatment plans were formulated by the same team that performed the microsurgical procedures. Biochemical remission was defined as a growth hormone (GH) level <2 ng/ml and an insulin-like growth factor­I level that was considered normal with reference to the patient's age and sex. The mean follow-up period after radiosurgery was 73.8 months (range 12­132 months). RESULTS: Three patients died during the study period of causes unrelated to surgery or GKS. Twenty-nine patients (72.5%) underwent 1 radiosurgery session, and 11 patients (27.5%) required 2 radiosurgery sessions. Among the patients who underwent 1 radiosurgery session, excellent responses (76%­100% reductions in tumor size, GH level, and insulin-like growth factor­I level) were observed in 18 (62%; p < 0.0001), 20 (69%; p < 0.0001), and 5 patients (17%; p = 0.21), respectively. Tumors < 1 cm³ and those with no evidence of cavernous sinus extension were statistically significantly related to a good response in tumor size reduction (p = 0.029 and p = 0.0016, respectively). Subgroup analyses were performed in patients who attained biochemical remission in GH levels; the subgroups included patient sex, patient age, target volume, isodose volume, prescribed dose and isodose, pre-GKS GH level, and evidence of cavernous sinus extension. Only male sex was found to be a statistically significant predictor of good hormone regulation (p = 0.0124). The presence of a cavernous sinus extension was the statistically significant predictor of poor hormone control (p = 0.0011) in our study. CONCLUSIONS: Subtotal tumor excision followed by GKS was an effective treatment for acromegaly. Tumors < 1 cm³ and those with no evidence of cavernous sinus extension responded well to treatment. Male sex and absence of cavernous sinus involvement can be regarded as predictors of biochemical remission. (DOI: 10.3171/2010.7.GKS10