Posterior Transdural Discectomy for Thoracic Disc Herniation.

AIM: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of posterior transdural discectomy for thoracic disc herniation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical records of seven patients who underwent posterior transdural discectomy for thoracic disc herniation were retrospectively evaluated. RESULTS: Between 2012 and 2020, seven patients (five men and two women) who were aged between 17 and 74 years underwent posterior transdural discectomy. Numbness is the most common presenting symptom, and two patients complained of urinary incontinence. T10-11 was the most affected level. All patients underwent at least 6 months of follow-up. There were no postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leaks and neurological complications postoperatively. All patients maintained their baseline neurological status or improved after surgery. No patient had secondary neurological deterioration or need for further surgical treatment. CONCLUSION: The posterior transdural approach is a safe procedure that should be considered in lateral and paracentral thoracic disc herniations providing a more direct surgical intervention.

Amount of reoperation following surgical repair of nonsyndromic craniosynostosis at a single center.

BACKGROUND: Craniosynostosis is a deformity of the skull that occurs as a result of early fusion of one or more cranial sutures and can be accompanied by neurological deficits. Craniosynostosis can be classified as syndromic or nonsyndromic according to the type of suture involved. Surgical treatment of craniosynostosis in infants basically involves loosening and opening the fused sutures to reduce intracranial pressure, allow the brain to grow, and also fix the skull shape. However, in such cases there is a risk of resynostosis after surgery. According to the literature, resynostosis rates vary between 0% and 70%. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the reoperation rate in craniosynostosis cases treated surgically in our clinic. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 70 nonsyndromic craniosynostosis cases treated surgically in the Neurosurgery Department of Bursa Uludag University from 2005 to 2019 was performed. All patients had undergone total cranial vault remodeling surgically and had been followed up for at least a year. RESULTS: The study group included 70 patients, comprising 40 (57.1%) male and 30 (42.9%) female patients. The mean age of the group was 10.9 ± 7.8 months (range 3-34 months). Out of 70 patients, repeat surgery due to resynostosis had been performed once in 5 (7.1%) patients and twice in 1 (1.4%) patient. DISCUSSION: It should be kept in mind that resynostosis may occur in patients who have been operated for craniosynostosis. Patients should be examined cosmetically and if necessary, radiologically in the follow-up. Further studies based on larger sample size are recommended for more quantitative data and better results.

Long non-coding RNAs as a predictive markers of group 3 medulloblastomas.

ObjectiveThe appropriate treatments for the different molecular subgroups of medulloblastomas are challenging to determine. Hence, this study aimed to examine the expression profiles of long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) to determine a marker that may be important for treatment selection in these subgroups.MethodsChanges in the expression of LncRNAs in the tissues of patients with medulloblastoma, which are classified into four subgroups according to their clinical characteristics and gene expression profiles, were examined via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Moreover, there association with patient prognosis was evaluated.ResultsThe expression levels of MALAT1 and SNGH16 were significantly higher in patients with group 3 medulloblastoma than in those with other subtypes. Patients with high expression levels of MALAT1 and SNGH16 had a relatively shorter overall survival than those with low expression levels.ConclusionsPatients with group 3 medulloblastoma have a high MALAT1 level, which is associated with poor prognosis. Therefore, MALAT1 can be a new therapeutic target in medulloblastoma.

NEAT1 Is a Novel Oncogenic LncRNA and Correlated with miR-143 in Pediatric Oligodendrogliomas.

INTRODUCTION: The noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a role in biological processes of various cancers including gliomas. The majority of these transcripts are uniquely expressed in differentiated tissues or specific glioma types. Pediatric oligodendroglioma (POG) is a rare subtype of diffuse glioma and accounts for <1% of pediatric brain tumors. Because histologically POG resembles adult OG, the same treatment is applied as adults. However, the significance in predicting outcomes in POG patients is unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of expression -profiles of microRNA (miRNA) and long noncoding RNA -(LncRNA) in POGs. METHODS: We investigated the levels of 13 known miRNAs and 6 LncRNAs in tumor samples from 9 patients with primary POG by using RT-PCR and analyzed their association with outcomes. RESULTS: The expression levels of miR-21, miR-106a, miR-10b, and LncRNA NEAT1 were higher, and the expression level of miR-143 was lower in POG tissues compared with normal brain tissues (p = 0.006, p = 0.032, p = 0.034, p = 0.002, and p = 0.001, respectively). High levels of NEAT1 and low expression of miR-143 were associated with decreased probability of short disease-free survival (p = 0.018 and p = 0.022, respectively). DISCUSSION: NEAT1 and miR-143 levels could serve as reciprocal prognostic predictors of disease progression in patients with POG. New treatment models to regulate the expression levels of NEAT1 and miR-143 will bring a new approach to the therapy of POG.