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OBJECT The objective of this study was to investigate epidemiology and outcome after surgical treatment for spinal injuries in Ethiopia. METHODS Medical records of patients who underwent surgery for spine injuries at Myungsung Christian Medical Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between January 2008 and September 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. Assessment of outcome and complications was determined from patient consultations and phone interviews. RESULTS A total of 146 patients were included (129 males, 17 females). Their mean age was 31.7 years (range 15–81 years). The leading cause of injury was motor vehicle accidents (54.1%), and this was followed by falls (26.7%). The most common injury sites were lumbar (41.1%) and cervical (34.2%) regions of the spine. In 21.2% of patients, no neurological deficit was present before surgery, 46.6% had incomplete spinal cord injury (American Spinal Injury Association [ASIA] Impairment Scale [AIS] Grade B-D), and 32.2% had complete spinal cord injury (AIS Grade A). Follow-up was hampered by suboptimal infrastructure, but information regarding outcome was successfully obtained for 110 patients (75.3%). At follow-up (mean 22.9 months; range 2–57 months), 25 patients (17.1%) were confirmed dead and 85 patients (58.2%) were alive; 49 patients (33.6%) underwent physical examination. At least 8 of the 47 patients (17.0%) with a complete injury and 29 of the 68 patients (42.6%) with an incomplete injury showed neurological improvement. The reported incidences of pressure wounds, recurrent urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and thromboembolic events were 22.5%, 13.5%, 5.6%, and 1.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Patients showed surprisingly good recovery considering the limited resources. Surgical treatment for spine injuries in Ethiopia is considered beneficial.

Introduction: Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a major cause of disability and death after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. The literature suggests that impaired cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) may be a predictor for DCI; still no CVR based prediction model has been developed. Increased knowledge about possible predictors of DCI can improve patient management in high-risk patients and allow for shorter hospital stay in low-risk patients. Method: CVR was examined in 42 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and 37 patients treated for unruptured intracranial aneurysm, using acetazolamide test with transcranial Doppler monitoring of blood flow velocities. Patients were followed for development of DCI, separated into clinical deterioration and radiographic infarction. Results: For all patients, regardless of aneurysm rupture status, CVR was on average 5.5 percentage points lower on the ipsilateral side of aneurysm treatment. Patients with clinical deterioration due to DCI had lower CVR than patients without DCI, and the difference was larger on the contralateral side (33.9% vs. 49.2%). Two prediction models were constructed for clinical deterioration due to DCI. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.82 in the model using established predictors, and 0.86 in the model that also included CVR. Conclusion:Our findings support the hypothesis that impaired CVR may be an independent predictor of clinical deterioration due to DCI, and may assist in identifying patients at risk after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Ipsilateral CVR reduction occurs in all patients after aneurysm treatment, regardless of DCI development, thus highlighting the need to evaluate ipsi-and contralateral CVR separately.

Background Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is often impaired in the early phase after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. There is, however, little knowledge about the time course of CVR in patients treated for unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA). Methods CVR, assessed by transcranial Doppler and acetazolamide test, was examined within the first postoperative week after treatment for UIA and reexamined one year later. Results Of 37 patients initially assessed, 34 were reexamined after one year. Bilaterally, baseline and acetazolamide-induced blood flow velocities were higher in the postoperative week compared with one year later (p < 0.001). CVR on the ipsilateral side of treatment was lower in the initial examination compared with follow-up (58.9% versus 66.1%, p = 0.04). There was no difference in CVR over time on the contralateral side (63.4% versus 65.0%, p = 0.65). When mean values of right and left sides were considered there was no difference in CVR between exams. Larger aneurysm size was associated with increased change in CVR (p = 0.04), and treatment with clipping was associated with 13.8%-point increased change in CVR compared with coiling (p = 0.03). Conclusion Patients with UIA may have a temporary reduction in CVR on the ipsilateral side after aneurysm treatment. The change in CVR appears more pronounced for larger-sized aneurysms and in patients treated with clipping. We recommend that ipsilateral and contralateral CVR should be assessed separately, as mean values can conceal side-differences.

Vasospasm (VSP) is one of the major causes for prolonged neurologic deficit in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Few case series have reported about continuous local intra-arterial nimodipine administration (CLINA) in refractory VSP. We report our experience with CLINA in a patient with refractory cerebral VSP.

The interquartile range (IQR) for the median time between aneurysm treatment and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) testing was incorrectly reported as 28.4 h. The correct value is 43.7 h. (Page 99, Chapter 3.2.)