Anatomy of the posterior Fossa: a comprehensive description for pediatric brain tumors.

Posterior fossa tumors are the most common pediatric brain tumors, and present unique challenges in terms of their location and surgical management. The posterior fossa comprehends complex anatomy and represents the smallest and deepest of the three cranial base fossae. An in-depth understanding of posterior fossa anatomy is crucial when it comes to the surgical resection of pediatric brain tumors. Mastering the knowledge of posterior fossa anatomy helps the neurosurgeon in achieving a maximal and safe volumetric resection, that impacts in both overall and progression free survival. With the advancements in microsurgery, the telovelar approach has emerged as the workhorse technique for the resection of posterior fossa tumors in pediatric patients. This approach involves meticulously dissecting of the natural clefts present in the cerebellomedullary fissure, making a comprehensive understanding of the underlying anatomy key for its success.

Doing more with less: surgical results of pediatric posterior fossa tumors from a single center in Latin America.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to report the epidemiology, surgical outcomes, and survival rates of pediatric patients with posterior fossa tumors in a large single-center case series. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on pediatric patients who underwent surgical treatment for posterior fossa tumors between January 2011 and January 2019. RESULTS: A total of 135 pediatric patients, with an average age of 7.5 years at diagnosis and a mean follow-up of 35.7 months, were included in the study. Most tumors were located within the midline, with ventriculomegaly observed in 71.4% of the patients. Pilocytic astrocytomas encompassed the majority of tumors (34.1%), followed by medulloblastomas (27.4%) and ependymomas (11.8%). Gross total resection (GTR) was achieved in 71.8% of the patients, with a recurrence rate of 20%. Surgical complications were observed in 25.9% of the patients. GTR significantly impacted 5-year overall survival (OS) and 4-year progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with posterior fossa tumors. Patients who underwent GTR had a 5-year OS of 89.7%, compared to 72.7% for near-total resection and 70.8% for subtotal resection. The 4-year PFS for patients who underwent GTR was 82.5%, whereas it was 63.6% for patients who underwent near-total resection and 54.2% for patients who underwent subtotal resection. CONCLUSION: Surgical resection remains the main treatment for pediatric posterior fossa tumors, and higher resection rates are linked to better survival outcomes. Despite limited resources for molecular diagnosis, our institution has demonstrated that a specialized neurooncological center with a high surgical volume can still achieve favorable survival outcomes for these patients.

Peritoneal metastasis of a brainstem anaplastic ganglioglioma in a 2-year-old boy: case report and literature review.

Anaplastic gangliogliomas (AGG) are rare tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) that commonly affect children and young adults, with an unusual infratentorial presentation, which is related to hydrocephalus and a worse prognosis. We report a case of a brainstem AGG in a 2-year-old boy who underwent a ventriculoperitoneal shunting (VPS) and later presented peritoneal metastasis. We also reviewed the related literature. Even though rare, disease dissemination through VPS should be sought in patients with CNS tumors and VPS who develop new abdominal symptoms. The early diagnosis and intervention may minimize morbidity and improve quality of life of such patients.

Using the keystone design perforator island flap in large myelomeningocele closure.

OBJECTIVE: Many repair techniques have been proposed to treat large myelomeningocele (MMC), and although effective in many cases, some of these techniques can be complex and time consuming, with complications such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, flap loss, tip necrosis, and wound dehiscence. The purpose of this study was to analyze cases of large skin defects and the methods applied and to report the outcomes of the keystone design perforator island flap (KDPIF) technique for large MMC closure. METHODS: The authors performed a retrospective review of all neonatal patients who had undergone KDPIF for MMC closure in the period from 2013 to 2018. All patients had a diagnosis of lumbosacral MMC based on obstetric ultrasound. The neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons had selected the cases after concluding that primary closure would be unlikely. The design of the flap is based on the randomly located vascular perforators, creating two identical opposing flaps to fashion a double keystone flap. During wound closure, V-Y advancement of each end of the double flap in the longitudinal axis creates redundancy in the central portion of the flap and reduces the horizontal tension. After discharge, both the neurosurgery and plastic surgery teams followed up all patients, tracking the results with photography. RESULTS: No skin flap dehiscence or necrosis, infection, or CSF leakage was detected, proving the reliability of the flap. One of the patients required further surgery for the large skin defects after insufficient intrauterine closure of the MMC and successfully underwent KDPIF treatment. Another patient (14.3%) had severe neonatal sepsis, which ultimately led to death. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt was required after the skin defect repair in 5 (83.3%) of the 6 surviving patients. Exceptional aesthetic results were achieved for all patients during the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The KDPIF technique is based on well-known vascular perforators of the intercostal, lumbar, and gluteal regions. Wound tension is widely distributed by the flap and, as a consequence, relevant tissue bulk, reliable vascularity, and important geometrical versatility are provided. In addition, most of the muscles and fascia are preserved, which is another advantage in terms of minimizing secondary morbidity to local tissue rearrangement. The use of KDPIF closure was successfully shown to be a viable alternative for more complex MMCs that present with large skin defects.

Temporopolar Amygdalohippocampectomy for Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Two-Dimensional Anatomical Operative Video.

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy is the most frequent type of focal epilepsy in young adults and the most commonly reported in surgical series worldwide.1,2 When seizures become refractory to drug therapy, they are unlikely to remit spontaneously, and for the 30% of patients with epilepsy that is refractory to antiepileptic drugs, resection of the mesial temporal lobe structures provides seizure control rates of 70%-80%.3,4 The transsylvian route for amygdalohippocampectomy has been used at our institution for many years, evolving from the first description of Yasargil through the inferior circular sulcus of insula to the most recent one through the amygdala trying to preserve the temporal stem.5,6 Despite good outcomes according to the Engel classification, analysis of late postoperative magnetic resonance imaging scans of our patients showed a high incidence of temporal pole atrophy and potential gliosis.7,8 Therefore, we decided to keep the transsylvian route, but we removed a portion of the temporal pole anterior to the limen insula, resulting in a temporopolar amygdalohippocampectomy.4,9 Temporopolar amygdalohippocampectomy demonstrated good temporal stem preservation, good visual outcomes, and good memory results.4 We also advocate that the transsylvian route has the potential to provide a superior view and resection of the piriform cortex, that is associated with seizure outcome after surgery.10 We present a case of a 42-year-old woman who had refractory seizures secondary to mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and underwent temporopolar amygdalohippocampectomy with a good outcome, remaining seizure-free (Engel IA) (Video 1). The patient provided consent for surgery and video publication.

Perl epidemiológico de pacientes com metástase na coluna vertebral em Salvador, Bahia, Brasil / Epidemiological Prole of Patients with Spinal Metastases in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Objetivo Analisar o perl epidemiológico dos pacientes com suspeita de doença metastática na coluna vertebral em hospital de referência. Métodos Estudo observacional, descritivo e retrospectivo, realizado em hospital de referência neurocirúrgica do estado da Bahia, a partir de dados coletados em prontuários de pacientes submetidos à biópsia percutânea da coluna vertebral por suspeita de patologia metastática no período de março de 2013 a fevereiro de 2014. Resultados Foram incluídos 46 pacientes, sendo 25 (54,3%) do sexo masculino, com idade média de 54,3 anos (desvio padrão: 15). Mais da metade dos pacientes (56,2%) possuíam diagnóstico de neoplasia anterior à biópsia vertebral, sendo os tipos mais comuns o adenocarcinoma de mama e próstata, seguidos pela neoplasia pulmonar. A coluna lombar foi a mais frequentemente acometida (n » 31; 67,4%), seguida pela torácica (n » 14; 30,4%) e sacral (n » 11; 23,9%). Nenhum paciente apresentou acometimento cervical em nossa amostra. O número de vértebras acometidas variou de 1 a 4, sendo que 8 pacientes (17,4%) apresentavam lesões múltiplas ( 3 lesões). O mieloma múltiplo foi a neoplasia mais comumente encontrada na análise do material de biópsia vertebral, correspondendo a 12 casos (26,1%), seguido pela metástase de carcinoma de mama, 9 (19,6%); de próstata, 5 (10,9%); e pulmonar, 5 (10,9%). Sete pacientes (15,2%) não apresentaram alterações neoplásicas. Conclusões Foramencontrados dados epidemiológicos compatíveis coma literatura, exceto pelo tipo histológico das metástases vertebrais, sendo mieloma múltiplo o de maior prevalência emnosso estudo. Este estudo torna-se relevante por ser o primeiro a avaliar metástases vertebrais no Norte-Nordeste brasileiro.

Objective To analyze the epidemiological prole of patients with suspected spine metastases in a referral hospital. Methods An observational, descriptive and retrospective study, conducted in neurosurgical referral hospital in the state of Bahia with data collected from medical records of patients undergoing percutaneous spinal biopsy for suspected metastatic disease from March 2013 to February 2014. Results 46 were included, which 25 (54.3%) were male. The mean age was 54.3 years (SD: 15). More than half of patients (56.2%) had a previous diagnosis of cancer; the most common types were breast and prostate adenocarcinoma, followed by lung cancer. The lumbar spine was the most frequently affected (n » 31, 67.4%), followed by the thoracic spine (n » 14, 30.4%) and sacral (n » 11, 23.9%). No patient had cervical involvement in our sample. The number of affected vertebrae ranged from1 to 4, and 8 (17.4%) cases had multiple lesions (lesions 3). Multiple myeloma was the most common neoplasm found in the analysis of vertebral biopsy, corresponding to 12 patients (26.1%), followed by metastatic breast carcinoma, 9 (19.6%), prostate cancer, 5 (10.9%), and lung cancer, 5 (10.9%). Seven patients (15.2%) showed no neoplastic lesions. Conclusions Epidemiological data was consistent with the literature data, except by histological type of the vertebral metastases, which multiple myeloma was the most prevalent in our study. This study is relevant because it is the rst to assess vertebral metastases in the Brazilian North-Northeast.