Three patients from different centers with pacemaker or ICD leads endocardially implanted in the left ventricle are described. All leads, two ventricular pacing leads and one ICD lead, were inserted through a patent foramen ovale or an atrial septum defect. The diagnosis was made 9 months, 14 months, and 16 years, respectively, after implantation. All patients had right bundle branch block configuration during ventricular pacing. Chest X ray was suggestive of a left-sided positioned lead except in the ICD patient. Diagnosis was confirmed with echocardiography in all patients. One patient with a ventricular pacing lead presented with a transient ischemic attack at 1-month postimplantation. During surgical repair of the atrial septum defect 14 months later, the lead was extracted and thrombus was attached to the lead despite therapy with aspirin. The other patients were asymptomatic without anticoagulation (9 months and 16 years after implant). No thrombus was present on the ICD lead at the time of the cardiac transplantation in one patient. We reviewed 27 patients with permanent leads described in the literature. Ten patients experienced thromboembolic complications, including three of ten patients on antiplatelet therapy. The lead was removed in six patients, anticoagulation with warfarin was effective for secondary prevention in the four remaining patients. In the asymptomatic patients, the lead was removed in five patients. In the remaining patients, 1 patient was on warfarin, 2 were on antiplatelet therapy, and in 3 patients the medication was unknown. After malposition was diagnosed, three additional patients were treated with warfarin. In conclusion, if timely removal of a malpositioned lead in the left ventricle is not preformed, lifelong anticoagulation with warfarin can be recommended as the first choice therapy and lead extraction reserved in case of failure or during concomitant surgery.

Maintaining the minimal invasiveness of the percutaneous approach to aortic endografting reduces patient discomfort and permits earlier ambulation and hospital discharge. Initial success seems to be maintained at 1 month, however, longer follow-up will be required.

Maintaining the minimal invasiveness of the percutaneous approach to aortic endografting reduces patient discomfort and permits earlier ambulation and hospital discharge. Initial success seems to be maintained at 1 month, however, longer follow-up will be required.

No abstract

PURPOSE Prospective data suggested a superiority of intraoperative MRI (iMRI) over 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) for achieving complete resections of contrast enhancement in glioblastoma surgery. We investigated this hypothesis in a prospective clinical trial and correlated residual disease volumes with clinical outcome in newly diagnosed glioblastoma. METHODS This is a prospective controlled multicenter parallel-group trial with two center-specific treatment arms (5-ALA and iMRI) and blinded evaluation. The primary end point was complete resection of contrast enhancement on early postoperative MRI. We assessed resectability and extent of resection by an independent blinded centralized review of preoperative and postoperative MRI with 1-mm slices. Secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), patient-reported quality of life, and clinical parameters. RESULTS We recruited 314 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastomas at 11 German centers. A total of 127 patients in the 5-ALA and 150 in the iMRI arm were analyzed in the as-treated analysis. Complete resections, defined as a residual tumor ≤0.175 cm³, were achieved in 90 patients (78%) in the 5-ALA and 115 (81%) in the iMRI arm ( P = .79). Incision-suture times ( P < .001) were significantly longer in the iMRI arm (316 v 215 [5-ALA] minutes). Median PFS and OS were comparable in both arms. The lack of any residual contrast enhancing tumor (0 cm³) was a significant favorable prognostic factor for PFS ( P < .001) and OS ( P = .048), especially in methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase unmethylated tumors ( P = .006). CONCLUSION We could not confirm superiority of iMRI over 5-ALA for achieving complete resections. Neurosurgical interventions in newly diagnosed glioblastoma shall aim for safe complete resections with 0 cm³ contrast-enhancing residual disease, as any other residual tumor volume is a negative predictor for PFS and OS.

Moyamoya angiopathy (MMA) related cerebral perfusion deficits or infarctions might influence quality of life (QoL). This study examines preoperative QoL in adult patients with MMA and correlates these with findings obtained via diagnostic imaging. Sixty-seven adult Moyamoya patients underwent preoperative neuropsychological testing including questionnaires to determine QoL, as well as psychiatric and depressive symptoms. The results were checked for correlation with territorial hypoperfusions seen in H215O PET with acetazolamide (ACZ) challenge (cerebrovascular reserve) and infarction patterns observed in MRI. Each vascular territory was analyzed separately and correlated with QoL. Physical role function was restricted in 41.0% of cases and emotional role function in 34.4% of cases (SF-36). Obsessive–compulsive disorder (39.3%) (SCL-90-R), psychoticism (34.4%) (SCL-90-R), and depression (32.7%) (BDI-II) were also very common. Psychoticism was significantly more frequent in cases where perfusion deficits in PET CT were observed in both MCA territories (left p = 0.0124, right p = 0.0145) and infarctions in MRI were present in the right MCA territory (p = 0.0232). Depression was significantly associated with infarctions in the right MCA territory (SCL-90-R p = 0.0174, BDI-II p = 0.0246). Women were affected more frequently by depression (BDI-II, p = 0.0234). Physical role function impairment was significantly associated with perfusion deficits in the left MCA territory (p = 0.0178) and infarctions in the right MCA territory (p = 0.0428). MMA leads to impairments in different areas of QoL. Approximately one-third of all adult MMA patients suffered from depression, with women being most affected. In addition to depression, presence of executive dysfunctions and mental disorders such as psychoticism, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and impaired physical and emotional role function affected QoL. These patients showed significantly more often infarctions and perfusion deficits in the right MCA territory. Long-term studies with follow-up results are necessary to clarify a possible beneficial impact of early surgical revascularization on QoL and depression in adult MMA patients.

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This study aims to describe the posterolateral epidural supra-C2-root approach (PESCA), which might be a good alternative to the transoral, anterolateral, and other posterolateral approaches for biopsy of lesions of the odontoid process (OP). The preoperative planning of PESCA included computerized tomography (CT), CT-angiography, and three-dimensional reconstruction (if possible, even with three-dimensional print) to analyze the angle of the trajectory and the anatomy of the vertebral artery (VA). For PESCA, the patient is positioned under general anesthesia in prone position. In case of an osteolytic lesion with fracture of the OP, an X-ray is performed after positioning to verify anatomic alignment. In the first step, in case of instability and compression of the spinal cord, a craniocervical fusion and decompression is performed (laminectomy of the middle part of the C1 arc and removal of the lower part of the lateral C1 arc). The trajectory is immediately above the C2 root (and under the upper rest of the lateral part of C1 arc). Even if the trajectory is narrowed, it is possible to perform PESCA without relevant traction of the spinal cord. The vertical segment of V3 of the VA at the level of C2 is protected by the vertebral foramen, and the horizontal part of V3 is protected by the remnant upper lateral part of the C1 arc (in case of normal variants). PESCA might be a good choice for biopsy of selected lesions of the OP in same sitting procedure after craniocervical stabilization and decompression.