The results of an international multicenter study concerning the first complication of newly implanted cerebrospinal fluid shunts in nontumoral hydrocephalus are the subject of the present report. The authors have collected information on 773 cases from four continents. In particular, the following data were evaluated in relation to the general incidence of complications recorded in the first follow-up year: the patient's age at the operation, the etiology of hydrocephalus, the type of CSF shunt device used, and the modality of the surgical procedures. The overall complication rate in the series was 29%. Age and etiology of hydrocephalus appear to play a major role in influencing the complication rate; on the other hand, the choice of a specific CSF shunt device seems to be less important in this respect.

In this series, aneurysm rupture appeared to be more related to elevated apoptosis levels than to the volume of the aneurysm sac. Data in this study could open the field to investigations clarifying the causes of aneurysm enlargement and rupture.

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Phenotypic variants of Staphylococcus aureus may be misidentified by routine microbiological methods, and they may also respond poorly to antibacterial treatment. Using molecular methods, we identified small-colony variants of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (which were misidentified by 3 widely used automated identification systems as methicillin-susceptible coagulase-negative staphylococci) as the cause of recurrent ventriculoperitoneal shunt-related meningitis.

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The purpose of the present study was to verify the effect of callosotomy on generalized seizures, to check the effect on other seizure types and to search for possible prognostic factors. Twenty patients with a minimum follow-up of one year (mean 3.5 years) were available for our analysis. In six of them the callosotomy was performed in two stages (total: 26 surgical procedures). Age ranged from 14 to 40 years (mean 23 years). Different aetiologies were known in 15 patients. Duration of epilepsy ranged from 6 to 23 years (mean 15 years). The frequency of seizures ranged between 19 and 750 per month. The most significant effect of surgery was the complete suppression of the generalized seizures associated with falling in 9/19 and their reduction of more than 80% in 7/19 patients (total "good results": 16/19). The generalized tonic-clonic seizures were less affected. The surgical effect on the partial seizures was very variable, the partial simple seizures being the most affected. A positive statistical association with the outcome of the generalized seizures with fall was found for a presurgical seizure frequency below 90 per month, a prevalent bilateral EEG epileptic activity and, to a less extent, the absence of cerebral structural lesions. The role of age, aetiology, duration of the disease, single or more seizure types, mental impairment and extent of callosotomy remains uncertain. Disconnection syndrome does not appear if the splenium is spared. The present findings confirm that the main indication for callosotomy is the occurrence of generalized seizures with fall. Surgery can be initially limited to the anterior 2/3 of the corpus callosum; further posterior section of the corpus, excluding the splenium, should be regarded as a second step, when necessary.