Background: Harvey Cushing and collaborators created the first society of neurosurgeons in 1920, in the United States of America, the Society of Neurological Surgeons. In 1955, the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) was created in Switzerland to improve neurosurgical care globally through the scientific cooperation of members. The performance of neurosurgical associations today is fundamental to discuss diagnostic methods and therapeutic approaches, transforming modern medicine. Although most neurosurgical associations are recognized worldwide, there are some societies that are not recognized internationally due to a lack of regulatory bodies and lack of official digital channels, among other reasons. The main objective of the article is to list the neurosurgical societies and to provide a more integrated view of the interactions between neurosurgical societies in different countries. Methods: We developed a table summarizing the countries recognized by the United Nations, the continents, capitals, name of the present societies, and social networks. We utilized "Country AND (Neurosurgery OR Neurological Surgery) AND (Society OR Association)," in English, and in the native language of the country. Our search included: PubMed, Scopus, Google, Google Scholar, and the WFNS website, without filters. Results: We found 189 neurosurgery associations, from 131 countries and territories; 77 countries did not have their own neurosurgical societies. Conclusion: There is a difference between the number of internationally recognized societies, and the number of societies found in this study. In the future, we should better organize neurosurgical societies in countries that have neurosurgical activity with those without such resources.
BACKGROUND: Gliosarcoma (GS) is classified as an IDH-wild-type variant of glioblastoma (GBM). While GS is already an unusual presentation of GBM, IDH1-mutant cases are especially rare. We present an IDH1-mutant primary intraventricular GS case report and a systematic review of the molecular profile in GS correlating to the prognostic and pathogenesis of IDH1/2 mutations. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 44-years-old man presented with ongoing fatigue symptoms and a new-onset intense occipital headache. The patient complained of memory loss, dyscalculia, and concentration difficulties. An MRI revealed a bihemispheric intraventricular mass crossing the midline through the corpus callosum and infiltrating the trigone of the lateral ventricles, hypointense, and hyperintense on the T1- and T2-weighted image. We performed a microsurgical resection with a transparietal transsulcal approach; however, the contralateral mass was attached to vascular structures and we decided to reoperate the patient in another moment. The histopathological study showed a Grade IV tumor and the immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of GS. The patient presented progressive neurologic decline and died 45 days after the surgical approach. CONCLUSION: We did two systematic reviews studies from PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane, and SCOPUS databases, and included molecular and intraventricular studies of GS. We performed further meta-analysis using OpenMetaAnalyst™ software. We conducted a forest plot with the molecular profile of GS. When correlated IDH1 mutation versus tp53 mutation, we found an odds ratio (OR) of 0.018 (0.005-0.064) and P < 0.001. Moreover, we compared IDH1 mutation versus MGMT methylation (P = 0.006; OR = 0.138 [0.034-0.562]). The studies evaluating the molecular profile in GS prognostics are often extended from all GBMs despite specifics GBM variants (i.e., GS). We found a correlation between IDH1 mutation expression with tp53 and MGMT expression in GS, and future studies exploring this molecular profile in GS are strongly encouraged.
BACKGROUND: The posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) extends from the foramen magnum to the sacrum. In some cases, it becomes calcified/ossified; the term for this is ossification of the PLL (OPLL). CASE DESCRIPTION: A 50-year-old female presented with acute sphincter dysfunction and paraparesis attributed to T2-T4 OPLL. The patient underwent a C7-T5 laminectomy to decompress the spinal cord. After 1 postoperative week, and certainly by 6 months postoperatively, the patient's motor and sensory deficits showed improvement. CONCLUSION: Surgery for thoracic OPLL includes laminoplasty, laminectomy with/without fusion, anterior decompression through a posterior approach (transpedicular, costotransversectomy), and circumferential decompression (e.g. combined anterior/posterior approaches). In cases like the one presented, patients who originally present with acute paraparesis/sphincter dysfunction may demonstrate postoperative improvement.
