ABBREVIATIONS ACoA = anterior communicating artery; CVA = cerebrovascular accident; EEG = electroencephalography; ICA = internal carotid artery; LOS = length of stay; MCA = middle cerebral artery; MEP = motor evoked potential; mRS = modified Rankin Scale; NIS = National Inpatient Sample; SSEP = somatosensory evoked potential; UIA = unruptured intracranial aneurysm; VA = vertebral artery. OBJECTIVE Risk of ischemia during aneurysm surgery is significantly related to temporary clipping time and final clipping that might incorporate a perforator. In this study, the authors attempted to assess the potential added benefit to patient outcomes of "awake" neurological testing when compared with standard neurophysiological testing performed under general anesthesia. The procedure is performed after the induction of conscious sedation, and for the neurological testing, the patient is fully awake. METHODS The authors conducted an institutional review board-approved prospective study of clipping unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) in 30 consecutive adult patients who underwent awake clipping. The end points were the incidence of stroke/cerebrovascular accident (CVA), death, discharge to a long-term facility, length of stay, and 30-day modified Rankin Scale score. All clinical and neurophysiological intraoperative monitoring data were recorded. RESULTS The median patient age was 52 years (range 27-63 years); 19 (63%) female and 11 (37%) male patients were included. Twenty-seven (90%) aneurysms were anterior, and 3 (10%) were posterior circulation aneurysms. Five (17%) had been coiled previously, 3 (10%) had been clipped previously, 2 (7%) were partially calcified, and 2 (7%) were fusiform aneurysms. Three patients developed synchronous clinical neurological and neurophysiological changes during temporary clipping with consequent removal of the temporary clip and reversal of those clinical and neurophysiological changes. Three patients developed asynchronous clinical neurological and neurophysiological changes. These 3 patients developed hemiparesis without changes in neurophysiological monitoring results. One patient developed linked clinical neurological and neurophysiological changes during final clipping that were not reversed by reapplication of the clip, and the patient had a CVA. Four patients with internal carotid artery ophthalmic segment aneurysms underwent visual testing with final clipping, and 1 of these patients required repositioning of the clip. Three patients who required permanent occlusion of a vessel as part of their aneurysm treatment underwent a 10-minute intraoperative clinical respective-vessel test occlusion. The median length of stay was 3 days (range 1-5 days). The median modified Rankin Scale score was 1 (range 0-3). All of the patients were discharged to home from the hospital except for 1 who developed a CVA and was discharged to a rehabilitation facility. There were no deaths in this series. CONCLUSIONS The 3 patients who developed neurological deterioration without a concomitant neurophysi...

Background and Context:Minimally invasive percutaneous vertebral augmentation techniques; vertebroplasty, and kyphoplasty have been treatment choices for vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of the patients who underwent vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty regarding complications, correction of vertebral body height, kyphosis angle and pain relief assessment using visual analog score (VAS) for pain.Materials and Methods:A retrospective review of the hospital records for 100 consecutive patients treated with kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty in our department database. Patients with osteoporotic compression fractures, traumatic compressions, and osteolytic vertebral lesions, including metastases, hemangiomas, and multiple myeloma, were included in the study. Preoperative and postoperative VAS pain scores, percentages of vertebral compression and kyphotic angles were measured and compared as well as demographic characteristics and postoperative complications. Mobilization and length of stay (LOS) were recorded.Results:One hundred patients were treated by 110 procedures. 64 patients were operated on due to osteoporosis (72 procedures). Twelve patients were operated on because of metastasis (13 procedures), 8 patients were operated on because of multiple myeloma (9 procedures). Five patients had two surgeries, 1 patient had 3 surgeries, and 1 patient had 5 surgeries. The mean preoperative VAS was 74.05 ± 9.8. In total, 175 levels were treated, 46 levels by kyphoplasty and 129 by vertebroplasty. The mean postoperative VAS was 20.94 ± 11.8. Most of the patients were mobilized in the same day they of surgery. Mean LOS was 1.83 days. Six patients had nonsymptomatic leakage of polymethlymethacrylate, and patient had epidural hematoma, which was operated on performing hemi-laminectomy.Conclusions:Percutaneous vertebroplasty and balloon kyphoplasty are both effective and safe minimally invasive procedures for the stabilization of VCFs. However, complications should be kept in mind during decision making.

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Introduction: Africa has many untreated neurosurgical cases due to limited access to safe, affordable, and timely care. In this study, we surveyed young African neurosurgeons and trainees to identify challenges to training and practice.Methods: African trainees and residents were surveyed online by the Young Neurosurgeons Forum from April 25th to November 30th, 2018. The survey link was distributed via social media platforms and through professional society mailing lists. Univariate and bivariate data analyses were run and a P-value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.Results: 112 respondents from 20 countries participated in this study. 98 (87.5%) were male, 63 (56.3%) were from sub-Saharan Africa, and 52 (46.4%) were residents. 39 (34.8%) had regular journal club sessions at their hospital, 100 (89.3%) did not have access to cadaver dissection labs, and 62 (55.4%) had never attended a WFNS-endorsed conference. 67.0% of respondents reported limited research opportunities and 58.9% reported limited education opportunities. Lack of mentorship (P = 0.023, Phi = 0.26), lack of access to journals (P = 0.002, Phi = 0.332), and limited access to conferences (P = 0.019, Phi = 0.369) were associated with the country income category.Conclusion: This survey identified barriers to education, research, and practice among African trainees and young neurosurgeons. The findings of this study should inform future initiatives aimed at reducing the barriers faced by this group.

Introduction:Pure spinal epidural cavernous hemangiomas (PSECHs) are rare vascular lesions with about 100 cases reported. Herein, we present a case series of 7 PSECHs discussing their clinical presentation, radiological characteristics, surgical technique and intraoperative findings, pathological features, and functional outcome.Materials and Methods:We retrieved from the retrolective databases of the senior authors, patients with pathologically confirmed PSECH operated between January 2002 and November 2015. From their medical records, the patients’ sociodemographic, clinical, radiological, surgical, and histopathological data were retrieved and analyzed.Results:The mean age of the seven cases was 50.3 years. Four were females. All the five cases (71.4%) in the thoracic spine had myelopathy and the 2 (28.6%) lumbar cases had sciatica. Local pain was present in all the cases. All the lesions were isointense on T1-weighted images, hyperintense on T2-weighted images, and in five cases there was strong homogeneous enhancement. In six cases (85.7%), classical laminectomy was done; lesions resected in one piece in five cases. Total excision was achieved in all the cases. Lesions were thin-walled dilated blood vessels, lined with endothelium, and engorged with blood and with scanty loose fibrous stroma. The median follow-up was 12 months (range: 1–144 months). All patients gradually improved neurologically and achieved a good outcome with no recurrence at the last follow-up.Conclusion:PSECH although rare is increasing reported and ought to be included in the differential diagnosis of spinal epidural lesions. Early surgical treatment with total resection is recommended as would result in a good prognosis.

Endoport-assisted surgery is associated with high clot evacuation and decreases 30-d mortality compared to a similar medical group.

Background: Anterior cervical discectomy with fusion became the most frequently performed technique for the treatment of symptoms related to cervical disc prolapse. Multilevel anterior cervical discectomy has been combined with anterior cervical plate application to help maintain the cervical lordosis and enhance fusion. This was associated with more soft-tissue separation and retraction with increased incidence of surgically related complications and postoperative dysphagia. Aim of the Study: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the stand-alone cervical polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages in four-level discectomy and to determine if it is possible to avoid anterior plate fixation and to achieve satisfactory outcomes. Methodology: This is a retrospective study which was performed between June 2011 and December 2018 at one institute. The clinical and radiological data were collected from patients who underwent successive four-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with PEEK cages for degenerative cervical disc disease without plate fixation. Results: This study included 66 patients, 35 males and 31 females. The follow-up period was 24 months. Mean Japanese Orthopedic Association scores were 13.3 ± 1.41 preoperative and 15.9 ± 0.86 postoperative ( P = 0.046). The cervical curvature index “Ishihara” (ICI) was 9.9 ± 5.90 preoperative and the mean of ICI was 10.5 ± 6.65 postoperative, which is insignificant, P = 0.7). The lordotic curvature according to these results was preserved till the end of the year and half of the follow-up period postoperative. Conclusion: Consecutive four-level anterior discectomy with PEEK cage interbody fusion without plate and screw is a safe and effective procedure in the absence of instability, and it may be a reliable alternative for the treatment of multilevel cervical disc.

Introduction:Numerical classification systems for the internal carotid artery (ICA) are available, but modifications have added confusion to the numerical systems. Furthermore, previous classifications may not be applicable uniformly to microsurgical and endoscopic procedures. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically useful classification system.Materials and Methods:We performed cadaver dissections of the ICA in 5 heads (10 sides) and evaluated 648 internal carotid arteries with computed tomography angiography. We identified specific anatomic landmarks to define the beginning and end of each ICA segment.Results:The ICA was classified into eight segments based on the cadaver and imaging findings: (1) Cervical segment; (2) cochlear segment (ascending segment of the ICA in the temporal bone) (relation of the start of this segment to the base of the styloid process: Above, 425 sides [80%]; below, 2 sides [0.4%]; at same level, 107 sides [20%]; P < 0.0001) (relation of cochlea to ICA: Posterior, 501 sides [85%]; posteromedial, 84 sides [14%]; P < 0.0001); (3) petrous segment (horizontal segment of ICA in the temporal bone) starting at the crossing of the eustachian tube superolateral to the ICA turn in all 10 samples; (4) Gasserian-Clival segment (ascending segment of ICA in the cavernous sinus) starting at the petrolingual ligament (PLL) (relation to vidian canal on imaging: At same level, 360 sides [63%]; below, 154 sides [27%]; above, 53 sides [9%]; P < 0.0001); in this segment, the ICA projected medially toward the clivus in 275 sides (52%) or parallel to the clivus with no deviation in 256 sides (48%; P < 0.0001); (5) sellar segment (medial loop of ICA in the cavernous sinus) starting at the takeoff of the meningeal hypophyseal trunk (ICA was medial into the sella in 271 cases [46%], lateral without touching the sella in 127 cases [23%], and abutting the sella in 182 cases [31%]; P < 0.0001); (6) sphenoid segment (lateral loop of ICA within the cavernous sinus) starting at the crossing of the fourth cranial nerve on the lateral aspect of the cavernous ICA and located directly lateral to the sphenoid sinus; (7) ring segment (ICA between the 2 dural rings) starting at the crossing of the third cranial nerve on the lateral aspect of the ICA; (8) cisternal segment starting at the distal dural ring.Conclusions:The classification may be applied uniformly to all skull base surgical approaches including lateral microsurgical and ventral endoscopic approaches, obviating the need for 2 separate classification systems. The classification allows extrapolation of relevant clinical information because each named segment may indicate potential surgical risk to specific structures.