Laser-induced thermal therapy is an intuitive procedure for treating difficult intracranial neoplasms. As with any other procedure, patient selection and lesion selection are important factors in determining outcome.

Bur-hole craniostomy is the most efficient choice for surgical drainage of uncomplicated CSDH. Bur-hole craniostomy balances a low recurrence rate with a low incidence of highly morbid complications. Decision analysis provides statistical and empirical guidance in the absence of well-controlled large trials and despite a confusing range of previously reported morbidity and recurrence.

OBJECTIVE MR-guided laser-induced thermal therapy (MRgLITT) can be used to treat intracranial tumors, epilepsy, and chronic pain syndromes. Here, the authors report their single-center experience with 102 patients, the largest series to date in which the Visualase thermal therapy system was used. METHODS A retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent MRgLITT between 2010 and 2014 was performed. Pathologies included glioma, recurrent metastasis, radiation necrosis, chronic pain, and epilepsy. Laser catheters were placed stereotactically, and ablation was performed in the MRI suite. Demographics, operative parameters, length of hospital stay, and complications were recorded. Thirty-day readmission rates were calculated by using the standard method according to America's Health Insurance Plans Center for Policy and Research guidelines. RESULTS A total of 133 lasers were placed in 102 patients who required intervention for intracranial tumors (87 patients), chronic pain syndrome (cingulotomy, 5 patients), or epilepsy (10 patients). The procedure was completed in 98% (100) of these patients. Ninety-two patients (90.2%) had undergone previous treatment for their intracranial tumors. The average (± SD) total procedural time was 170.5 ± 34.4 minutes, and the mean laser-on time was 8.7 ± 6.8 minutes. The average intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stays were 1.8 and 3.6 days, respectively, and the median length of stay for both the ICU and the hospital was 1 day. By postoperative Day 1, 54% of the patients (n = 55) were neurologically stable for discharge. There were 27 cases of morbidity, including new-onset neurological deficits, and 2 perioperative deaths. Fourteen patients (13.7%) developed new deficits after the MRgLITT procedure, and of those 14 patients, 64.3% (n = 9) had complete resolution of deficits within 1 month, 7.1% (n = 1) had partial resolution of symptoms within 1 month, 14.3% (n = 2) had not had resolution of symptoms at the most recent follow-up, and 14.3% (n = 2) died without resolution of symptoms. The 30-day readmission rate was 5.6% CONCLUSIONS MRgLITT, although minimally invasive, must be used with caution. Thermal damage to critical and eloquent structures can occur despite MRI guidance. Once the learning curve is overcome, the overall procedural complication rate is low, and most patients can be discharged within 24 hours, with a relatively low readmission rate. In cases in which they occurred, most neurological deficits were temporary. The therapeutic role of MRgLITT in various intracranial diseases will require larger and more rigorous studies.

Background: Brain shift may occur during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, which may affect the position of subcortical structures, compromising target localization. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging in 50 Parkinson’s disease patients who underwent bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS. Patients were separated into two groups: group A – those with <2 mm cortical displacement (66 leads) and group B – those with ≧2 mm cortical displacement (34 leads). Pre and post-op coordinates of anterior (AC) and posterior commissures (PC), as well as the boundaries of red nucleus (RN) were compared. Results: AC-PC shortening due to posterior displacement of AC correlated with cortical displacement (p < 0.02) and was significantly greater in group B (0.41 ± 0.68 mm) than A (0.04 ± 0.76 mm; p < 0.005). Posterior shift of AC and RN’s center positively correlated (p < 0.0001). Shift appeared to impact the number of microelectrode tracks made to optimize STN targeting. AC-PC shortening also correlated with age (p < 0.003) and duration of surgery (p < 0.04). Conclusions: Subcortical structures shift during DBS surgery. This shift appears to be gravity-dependent since structures only shifted posteriorly, and patients were primarily in the supine position. Posterior shift of RN may indicate STN displacement. Such positional change may compromise target localization, requiring multiple microelectrode adjustments. This may provide indirect justification for the necessity of microelectrode recordings during DBS surgery.

Obesity is a growing global health problem frequently intractable to current treatment options. Recent evidence suggests that deep brain stimulation (DBS) may be effective and safe in the management of various, refractory neuropsychiatric disorders, including obesity. The authors review the literature implicating various neural regions in the pathophysiology of obesity, as well as the evidence supporting these regions as targets for DBS, in order to explore the therapeutic promise of DBS in obesity.The lateral hypothalamus and ventromedial hypothalamus are the appetite and satiety centers in the brain, respectively. Substantial data support targeting these regions with DBS for the purpose of appetite suppression and weight loss. However, reward sensation associated with highly caloric food has been implicated in overconsumption as well as obesity, and may in part explain the failure rates of conservative management and bariatric surgery. Thus, regions of the brain's reward circuitry, such as the nucleus accumbens, are promising alternatives for DBS in obesity control.The authors conclude that deep brain stimulation should be strongly considered as a promising therapeutic option for patients suffering from refractory obesity. 625Abbreviations used in this paper: BMI = body mass index; DBS = deep brain stimulation; GABA = γ-aminobutyric acid; LH = lateral hypothalamus; MCH = melanin-concentrating hormone; NAc = nucleus accumbens; OCD = obsessive-compulsive disorder; PD = Parkinson disease; 6-OHDA = 6-hydroxydopamine; STN = subthalamic nucleus; VMH = ventromedial hypothalamus; VP = ventral pallidum.

The synthetic dural substitutes DuraGen and AlloDerm provide a suitable alternative duraplasty with comparable complication rates. DuraGen requires a significantly shorter operative time than AlloDerm.

Magnetic resonance imaging-guided LITT is a well-tolerated procedure and may be effective in treating tumor recurrence/radiation necrosis.

Importance The treatment of multiple brain metastases (MBM) from melanoma is controversial and includes surgical resection, stereotactic radiosurgery and whole brain radiation. Several new classes of agents have revolutionized the treatment of metastatic melanoma allowing for subsets of patients to have long-term survival. Given this, management of MBM from melanoma is continually evolving. Objective To review the current evidence regarding the treatment of MBM from melanoma. Evidence Review The Pubmed database was searched using combinations of search terms and synonyms for melanoma, brain metastases, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy published between January 1, 1995 and January 1, 2015. Articles were selected for inclusion based on targeted keyword searches, manual review of bibliographies, and whether the article was a clinical trial, large observational study, or retrospective study focusing on melanoma brain metastases. Of 2243 articles initially identified, 110 were selected for full review. Of these, the most pertinent 76 articles were included. Findings Patients with newly diagnosed MBM can be treated with various modalities, either alone or in combination. Level 1 evidence supports the use of radiosurgery alone, whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT), and radiosurgery with WBRT. Though the addition of WBRT to SRS improves the overall brain relapse rate, WBRT has no significant impact on overall survival and has detrimental neurocognitive outcomes. Cytotoxic chemotherapy has largely been ineffective; targeted therapies and immunotherapies have reported to have high response rates and deserve further attention in the setting of larger clinical trials. Further studies are needed to fully evaluate the efficacy of these novel regimens in combination with radiation therapy. Conclusions and Relevance At this time, the standard management for patients with MBM from melanoma includes SRS, WBRT, or combination of both. Emerging data exists to support the notion that SRS in combination with targeted therapies or immune therapy may obviate the need for whole brain radiation and prospective studies are required to fully evaluate the efficacy of these novel regimens in combination with radiation therapy.