Introduction:The spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been described as a valuable neuromodulating procedure in the management of chronic and medically untreated neuropathic pain. Although many studies have discussed the use of this technique, a question still remains regarding its efficacy in different medical conditions with different etiology in the long term. The aim of this paper is to discuss the risks, complications, cost-effectiveness, and results of SCS in patients affected by chronic neuropathic pain based on the comprehensive literature review.

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BACKGROUND:Tuberculum sellae meningiomas is a serious challenge for neurosurgeons. It accounts for up to 10% of all intracranial meningiomas. The difficulty in surgically excising a Tuberculum sellae meningioma comes from its anatomical relationship to the optic nerves and chiasm and to the anterior cerebral and internal carotid arteries and their perforators. The authors discuss the main approaches and the complications based on their experience in comparison to previously reported data. METHODS: We report our personal case series of 38 patients with Tuberculum sellae meningiomas; 36 patients under went craniotomy for tumor resection (12 bifrontal, 12 pterional, 6 supraciliary, 4 unilateral frontals, and 2fronto-orbito-zygomatic); in two patients, the excision was performed through an endoscopic endonasal approach. The Simpson grade of meningioma resection as well as the non-visual morbidity and the mortality rates were analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients had Simpson grades 1 and 2 excisions, while seven had Simpson grade 4 excisions. The overall rate of non-visual morbidity was 13.15% (5 of 38 patients) and mortality was 5.3% (2 of 38). CONCLUSION: The primary symptom leading to the diagnosis of a Tuberculum sellae meningioma is visual compromise and the main goal of surgery is to achieve improvement of vision. Favorable outcomes were achieved with appropriate selection of surgical approach. More studies are necessary to define the prognostic factors for patients in this scenario.

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