Objective
Clinical trials are lacking in pediatric cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT). Neonates and children increasingly receive anticoagulant therapy (ACT) based on adult studies. Safety data for ACT in pediatric CSVT are scant and urgently needed. The objective was to assess the safety and outcome of ACT in pediatric CSVT.
Methods
In a single‐center prospective study, neonates and children with CSVT received ACT (standard/low molecular weight heparin, warfarin) by standardized protocol. A study neuroradiologist (M.S.) assessed all initial and follow‐up neuroimaging for intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), thrombus propagation, and recanalization. Clinical outcome was assessed with the Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure.
Results
Among 162 pediatric patients, 85 received ACT at diagnosis, including 29/83 (35%) neonates and 56/79 (71%) children. Major hemorrhage occurred in 6% (6/99) of treated patients, including 14% (3/21 neonates, 2/15 children) with and 2% (0/17 neonates, 1/46 children) without pretreatment ICH. ACT‐associated bleeds were all nonfatal, and clinical outcome was favorable in 50%, similar to the remaining patients (53%). Early follow‐up imaging demonstrated thrombus propagation in 11/57 neonates (10/35 [28%] without and 1/22 [4%] with ACT [p = 0.037]) and 10/63 children (7/19 [37%] without and 3/44 [7%] with ACT [p = 0.006]). Propagation was associated with new venous infarcts in 10% neonates and 40% children and worse clinical outcome in children (p = 0.053). Recanalization occurred earlier and more completely in neonates (p = 0.002). Clinical outcome was unfavorable in 47%.
Interpretation
In pediatric CSVT, ACT appears safe. Nontreatment with ACT is associated with thrombus propagation, observed in ¼ of untreated neonates and over ⅓ of children. Anticoagulants merit strong consideration in pediatric CSVT. ANN NEUROL 2010;67:590–599
Arterial embolization with cyanoacrylate may be the treatment of choice for aneurysmal bone cysts. Embolization is a less invasive, lower cost, simpler procedure than surgery and is easily repeatable.
Dedifferentiation occurred in approximately 24% of patients with c-POS. The prognosis for patients with DPOS was better than the prognosis for patients with dedifferentiated central and dedifferentiated peripheral chondrosarcoma.
Biopsies of lesions in the spine are often challenging procedures with significant risk of complications. CT-guided needle biopsies could lower these risks but uncertainties still exist about the diagnostic accuracy. Aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided needle biopsies for bone lesions of the spine. We retrieved the results of 430 core needle biopsies carried out over the past fifteen years at the authors' institute and examined the results obtained. Of the 430 biopsies performed, in 401 cases the right diagnosis was made with the first CT-guided needle biopsy (93.3% accuracy rate). Highest accuracy rates were obtained in primary and secondary malignant lesions. Most false negative results were found in cervical lesions and in benign, pseudotumoral, inflammatory, and systemic pathologies. There were only 9 complications (5 transient paresis, 4 haematomas that resolved spontaneously) that had no influence on the treatment strategy, nor on the patient's outcome. In conclusion we can assert that this technique is reliable and safe and should be considered the gold standard in biopsies of the spine.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.