Full-Videoendoscopic Interlaminar Surgery for the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniations ­ A Series of 50 Cases

The present study aims to describe the results of full-videoendoscopic surgery through the interlaminar route for central lumbar disc herniation in a series of 50 cases in Brazil. This is a retrospective single-center study. With the aim of describing safety, the present study reports the complication and revision rates. The clinical results were collected with the visual analogue scale (VAS) and with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) (a questionnaire to evaluate functional disability) at the preoperative visit and at 6 months postsurgery. The average surgical time was 20 minutes (range: 9­40 minutes), and 100% of the procedures were performed in an outpatient setting. The mean VAS scores improved from 9.4 to 1.1 (p < 0.001), and the mean ODI scores decreased from 69 to 9 points in the last follow-up (p < 0.001). There was 1 case (2%) with hernia recurrence, 1 case with intraoperative root injury (2%), and 2 cases (4%) that required lumbar fusion due to a preexisting instability. No infections were observed. The full-videoendoscopic surgery is a modern option for treating lumbar disc herniation. In the present study, we have observed that the use of this technique for the removal of fragments affecting the vertebral canal presented satisfactory clinical results, low complication rates, and that it has demonstrated its feasibility in an outpatient setting without prolonged hospitalization.

Abordagem cirúrgica de lesão granulomatosa criptocócica cerebral (criptococoma) em paciente imunocompetente / Surgical Approach to an Immunocompetent Patient's Cerebral Granulomatosis (cryptococcoma)

Acriptococose é a principalmicosequeatingeosistemanervosocentral, sendode distribuição mundial, mais prevalente em países em desenvolvimento. Atualmente, são descritas duas subespécies: Cryptococcus neoformans neoformans, associado à imunossupressão, e Cryptococcus neoformans gattii, em pacientes imunocompetentes. A criptococose do sistema nervoso central parenquimatosa em sua forma granulomatosa, ou criptococoma, é extremamente rara, sendo mais frequente a forma meningítica ou meningoencefalítica. Relatamos o caso de um paciente de 35 anos, não portador da síndrome de imunodeficiência adquirida e imunocompetente, com manifestações clínicas iniciais de cefaleia crônica, hemiparesia progressiva, confusão mental aguda e primeiro episódio de crise convulsiva tônico-clônica generalizada. Hipóteses diagnósticas préoperatórias de neoplasia maligna ou abscesso cerebral. Realizado procedimento cirúrgico, remoção completa da lesão maior, diminuindo o efeito de massa. A lesão foi diagnosticada, através de exame anatomopatológico, como criptococoma, o que torna o caso extremamente raro pelo tamanho da lesão e por ser o paciente imunocompetente. Houve melhora completa do déficit neurológico. O paciente encontra-se em seguimento clínico e tratamento medicamentoso com anfotericina-B.

Cryptococcosis is the main mycosis affecting the central nervous system, with worldwide distribution and higher prevalence in developing countries. Currently, two subspecies are described: Cryptococcus neoformans neoformans (associated with immunosuppression) and Cryptococcus neoformans gattii (in immunocompetent patients). Cryptococcosis of the central nervous system as a parenchymal granuloma or cryptococcoma is extremely rare, contrasting to themuchmore frequentmeningitic form. We report a 35 year-old immunocompetent patient with chronic headache, progressive hemiparesis, acute confusion and first episode of tonic-clonic seizures. Preoperative diagnostic hypotheses were malignancy or abscess. A large mass (5.5 cm) was surgically removed from the right parietal lobe relieving the mass effect. This was later diagnosed by pathological examination as cryptococcoma, an extremely rare case in view of lesion size and its occurrence in an immunocompetent subject. The patient evolved with complete resolution of the neurological deficit and is on amphotericin-B treatment.

Descrição da técnica cirúrgica minimamente invasiva vídeo totalmente endoscópica interlaminar para tratamento de hérnia de disco lombar / Description of minimally invasive surgical techniques full-videoendoscopic interlaminar for treatment of herniation lumbar disc

Os autores descrevem a técnica minimamente invasiva de abordagem cirúrgica vídeo totalmente endoscópica (full-videoendoscopic) via posterior da coluna lombar para o tratamento de hérnia de disco lombar, podendo ser utilizada também para estenose de canal vertebral, estenose foraminal, cisto facetário, entre outras patologias. O sistema vídeo totalmente endoscópico transformou a cirurgia da coluna, apresentando um método muito menos traumático e com o mínimo de morbidade, comparado com as técnicas convencionais e videoendoscópicas assistidas, com resultados clínicos semelhantes. O procedimento pode ser realizado sob anestesia local associada a sedação ou anestesia geral, em sistema de hospital-dia. O procedimento é realizado totalmente sob a visão endoscópica, submerso em irrigação contínua de soro fisiológico, com visualização total das estruturas neurais, fragmentos de disco, facetas e forames. Com a utilização da videoendoscopia, estamos capacitados a realizar modernos procedimentos de forma eficaz, segura e precisa, com o menor índice de comorbidades, traumatismos e infecção.

The authors describe the technique of minimally invasive surgical full-videoendoscopic the posterior lumbar spine for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation can also be used for spinal canal stenosis, foraminal stenosis, facet cyst, among other diseases. The totally endoscopic video system made spine surgery, with a much less traumatic and with minimal morbidity compared with conventional techniques and video endoscopic assisted with similar outcomes. The procedure can be performed under local anesthesia with sedation or general anesthesia in the hospital system-day. The procedure is performed under endoscopic totally submerged in saline irrigation continues, with full visualization of the neural structures, disk fragments, facets and foramina. With the use of video endoscopic, we are able to perform modern procedures effectively, safely and accurately, with the lowest rate of comorbidities, trauma and infection.