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The literature regarding the histopathological, molecular, radiological, prognostic, and therapeutic features of intracranial EES/pPNET is reviewed, emphasizing the distinction of this entity from the central PNET. Although exceptionally rare, intracranial EES/pPNET should be considered in the differential diagnosis of lesions in the cerebellopontine angle.

Alloplastic material is widely used for the reconstruction of calvarial defects. The objective of this article is to describe the effect of mechanical impact on a titanium calvarial implant and to discuss mechanical properties of alternative implant materials. The patient is a 19-year-old man who was involved in a traffic accident and underwent decompressive craniectomy for an extensive subdural hematoma. Reimplantation of the skull flap was complicated by infection and the flap had to be removed. The remaining cranial defect was closed with a titanium plate. The recovery was without complications. One year later, the patient was hit on the titanium plate, during a soccer match, by the elbow of a fellow player. The implant deflected inward, leaving a visible indentation of the cranial vault. Fortunately, there were no significant neurological symptoms and radiography did not show any signs of damage or pressure on the brain parenchyma. The patient had no aesthetic complaints regarding the shape. Thus, there was no indication to remove the plate. This case illustrates the limits of the protection offered by titanium cranioplasty.

Performing a skull reconstruction for a long-term existing large cranium defect usually needs either skin enhancement or skin flaps and cranioplasty. This procedure can be accompanied with aesthetic and functional complications. The presented case describes a 27-year-old man in need of a cranial reconstruction following decompressive craniectomy as treatment for severe traumatic brain injury. Autologous cranioplasty after decompressive craniectomy failed due to bone flap infection. Because of cognitive behavioral problems, a protective helmet needed to be worn in awaiting cranioplasty. The final titanium cranioplasty was placed subsequent to scalp expansion. The expansion was realized by placing a temporary and custom-made polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) plate over the defect with a tissue expander on top of it, using the existing scar and skull defect. Our reported technique avoids additional skin flap creation and accompanied complications such as additional scalp and bone damage. In cognitive damaged patients who need to wear a helmet constantly, this simple method provides, concurrently, protection of the brain and tissue expansion. We demonstrate a successful novel technical manner to provide scalp enhancement by positioning a temporary PMMA graft over the skull defect and placing the tissue expander on top of it.

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Background External ventricular drainage (EVD) is frequently used in neurosurgical procedures for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage. It is, however, associated with high infection rates, namely secondary meningitis and ventriculitis. Based on a previous high prevalence of these infections among patients with EVDs, we have proposed and implemented a protocol in an effort to decrease the infection rate. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of hospital-wide implementation of the EVD handling protocol on secondary EVD infections. Patients and methods We included 409 consecutive patients who received a new EVD for other indications than infectious pathologies from January 2000 until June 2012. Patients above 18 years of age were divided into pre- (n = 228) and post-protocol (n = 181) groups. Patient and disease demographics, as well as EVD data together with confounders for secondary meningitis were recorded in a database. Propensity score matching was then performed to create groups matched for sex, age, reason for drainage, type of shunt, time in situ and duration of surgery to place the EVD. Binomial logistic regression for confounder adjustment and regression discontinuity analyses were then performed on the matched cohort. Results Infections occurred more frequently in the pre-protocol group (23% vs 9%, p <  0.001). The incidence of infection was 33/1000 drain-days pre-protocol and 9/1000 drain-days post-protocol. Regression analysis in a propensity score-matched cohort (n = 103 in the pre- and n = 178 in the post-protocol groups) showed that the pre-protocol period was independently associated with more infections (OR 2.69; 95%-CI 1.22–5.95, p = 0.01). Conclusions The incidence of secondary EVD infections can be reduced significantly by the implementation of a strict hospital-wide EVD handling protocol.