Obesity and Spine Surgery: A Qualitative Review About Outcomes and Complications. Is It Time for New Perspectives on Future Researches?

STUDY DESIGN: Literature review. OBJECTIVES: An increasing number of obese patients requires operative care for degenerative spinal disorders. The aim of this review is to analyze the available evidence regarding the role of obesity on outcomes after spine surgery. Peri-operative complications and clinical results are evaluated for both cervical and lumbar surgery. Furthermore, the contribution of MIS techniques for lumbar surgery to play a role in reducing risks has been analyzed. METHODS: Only articles published in English in the last 10 years were reviewed. Inclusion criteria of the references were based on the scope of this review, according to PRISMA guidelines. Moreover, only paper analyzing obesity-related complications in spine surgery have been selected and thoroughly reviewed. Each article was classified according to its rating of evidence using the Sacket Grading System. RESULTS: A total number of 1636 articles were found, but only 130 of them were considered to be relevant after thorough evaluation and according to PRISMA checklist. The majority of the included papers were classified according to the Sacket Grading System as Level 2 (Retrospective Studies). CONCLUSION: Evidence suggest that obese patients could benefit from spine surgery and outcomes be satisfactory. A higher rate of peri-operative complications is reported among obese patients, especially in posterior approaches. The use of MIS techniques plays a key role in order to reduce surgical risks. Further studies should evaluate the role of multidisciplinary counseling between spine surgeons, nutritionists and bariatric surgeons, in order to plan proper weight loss before elective spine surgery.

Freeze-Dried Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Secretome Pharmaceuticalization: Optimization of Formulation and Manufacturing Process Robustness.

Producing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-secretome for dose escalation studies and clinical practice requires scalable and good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant production procedures and formulation into a standardized medicinal product. Starting from a method that combines ultrafiltration and freeze-drying to transform MSC-secretome into a pharmaceutical product, the lyosecretome, this work aims to: (i) optimize the lyosecretome formulation; (ii) investigate sources of variability that can affect the robustness of the manufacturing process; (iii) modify the ultrafiltration step to obtain a more standardized final product. Design of experiments and principal component analysis of the data were used to study the influence of batch production, lyophilization, mannitol (M)/sucrose (S) binary mixture, selected as cryoprotectant excipients, and the total amount of excipients on the extracellular vesicles (EV) particle size, the protein and lipid content and the in vitro anti-elastase. The different excipients ratios did not affect residual moisture or EV particle size; simultaneously, proteins and lipids were better preserved in the freeze-dried product using the maximum total concentration of excipients (1.5% w/v) with a M:S ratio of about 60% w/w. The anti-elastase activity was instead better preserved using 0.5% w/w of M as excipient. The secretome batch showed to be the primary source of variability; therefore, the manufacturing process has been modified and then validated: the final product is now concentrated to reach a specific protein (and lipid) concentration instead of cell equivalent concentration. The new standardization approach led to a final product with more reproducible quali-quantitative composition and higher biological activity.

Fluorescence-Guided Surgery for High-Grade Gliomas: State of the Art and New Perspectives.

High-grade gliomas are aggressive tumors that require multimodal management and gross total resection is considered to be the first crucial step of treatment. Because of their infiltrative nature, intraoperative differentiation of neoplastic tissue from normal parenchyma can be challenging. For these reasons, in the recent years, neurosurgeons have increasingly performed this surgery under the guidance of tissue fluorescence. Sodium fluoresceine and 5-aminolevulinic acid represent the 2 main compounds that allow real-time identification of residual malignant tissue and have been associated with improved gross total resection and radiological outcomes. Though presenting different profiles of sensitivity and specificity and further investigations concerning cost-effectiveness are need, Sodium fluoresceine, 5-aminolevulinic acid and new phluorophores, such as Indocyanine green, represent some of the most important tools in the neurosurgeon's hands to achieve gross total resection.

III cranial nerve cavernous malformation: A case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Cavernous malformations generally occur in brain parenchyma but rarely these lesions arise from cranial nerves (CNs). CASE DESCRIPTION: This paper described a case of a woman presented with III CN dysfunction due to the presence of a right III CN cavernoma. Surgical treatment with nerve sparing gross total resection was performed. A 3-month follow-up was documented. CONCLUSION: Only few cases of CNs cavernomas have been described in the literature. These lesions have been described to show a more aggressive behavior compared to intraparenchymal cavernomas, especially in symptomatic patients. Differential diagnosis and surgical treatment could be challenging, especially trying to preserve nerve integrity and function.

Morphometric and Radiomorphometric Study of the Correlation Between the Foramen Magnum Region and the Anterior and Posterolateral Approaches to Ventral Intradural Lesions.

AIM: To identify the range of dimensional morphometric variability correlated to the basilar and condylar part of the occipital bone, which may affect the choice of approach to ventral intradural foramen magnum (FM) lesions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In total, 25 dry skulls and 50 head computed tomography (CT) scan results have been assessed in detail, focusing on the FM, occipital condyles, jugular tubercles (JT), and hypoglossal canals (HC). A morphometric analysis has been carried out using linear and angular measurements to estimate the range of the dimensional variability of these structures. Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation, ranges, and interquartile range on a boxplot. The sagittal intercondylar angle (SICA) and anterior condylar angle (ACA) have been found to be important in estimating the axial orientation of the condyles, whereas the JT-HC interline ratio has indicated the prominence of the tubercles. RESULTS: The SICA and ACA have exhibited high variability. The average JT-HC interline ratio was 0.8. Wider SICA-ACA and higher JT-HC interline ratio make the posterolateral approach advantageous. An anterior medial or far-medial endoscopic route is indicated in opposite conditions. In this study, two illustrative cases have been reported. CONCLUSION: A cautious preoperative morphometric evaluation of the FM region must be considered prior to using tailored and safe anterior endoscopic and posterolateral approaches to ventral intradural lesions to identify the advantages of a certain corridor as much as possible, thereby minimizing the risk of complications.