Twenty-four patients with petroclival meningiomas were operated upon at the neurosurgical clinic of the City Hospital of Hannover between 1978 and 1987. Seventeen were women and seven men; the mean age was 45 years. Symptoms were usually present for more than 2 years before the diagnosis was made. The most common symptom was disturbance of gait; the most common preoperative sign was cranial nerve deficit, mainly of the 7th and 8th nerves. Preoperative neuroradiological evaluation included computed tomography and four-vessel cerebral angiography. Fifteen patients (62%) had a tumor larger than 2.5 cm in its major diameter. The surgical approaches used were the retromastoid, pterional, subtemporal, and combined retromastoid-subtemporal. We developed a modification of the retromastoid-subtemporal approach with preservation of the transverse sinus and used this in the last 2 patients. There was no postoperative death; 11 patients (46%) suffered postoperative complications, mainly in the form of cranial nerve deficits, often reversible. "Total" tumor removal was achieved in 17 patients (71%). Twenty patients (83%) were independent at the time of discharge from the hospital. With accurate neuroradiological evaluation, careful choice of the surgical approach, and sound application of microsurgical techniques, petroclival meningiomas may be "totally" and safely resected in a significant number of patients.
The time course of revascularization of grafted nerves, and the possible dependence of this revascularization on the length of the graft are two related questions that are addressed. Survival of Schwann cells in the nerve graft and a timely revascularization must be seen as a precondition for an optimal regeneration process. The revascularization process after different postoperative intervals is demonstrated in the sciatic nerve of rabbits by the use of microangiography, with Roentgen-positive water-soluble contrast medium. The third postoperative day is the earliest point in time for revascularization of the autologous graft from surrounding tissues. On the fourth postoperative day, a hyperemia with extension to all sides of the intraneural vessel system exists that still persists on the fifth and sixth days. In one experimental group, revascularization was allowed to occur only in a longitudinal direction. Revascularization under these conditions proved to be poor, slow, and obviously dependent on the length of the graft. Survival and subsequent function of free autologous nerve grafts may depend on the diameter of the grafts and the quality of the recipient site, but not on the length of the grafts, when timely revascularization from the surrounding tissues is present.
The classical microsurgical approach in the treatment of herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP) has been substituted over the years by endoscopical approach, in which it is possible to practice via endoscopy a laser thermo-discoplasty, and by percutaneous laser disc decompression and nucleotomy. Percutaneous laser disc decompression and nucleotomy have been performed worldwide in more than 40,000 cases of HNP. Because water is the major component of the intervertebral disc and in HNP pain is caused by disc protrusion pressing against the nerve root, a 980 nm Diode (Biolitec AG-Germany) laser introduced via a 21-G needle under X-ray or CT-scan guidance and local anesthesia, vaporizes a small amount of the nucleous pulposus shrinking the disc and relieving the pressure on the nerve root. A multicentric retrospective study with a mean follow-up of 6 years was performed on 900 patients suffering from relevant symptoms that had been therapy-resistant for 6 months on average before consulting our department. Evaluation included 585 (65%) males and 315 (35%) females. The average age of patients operated was 46 years (18-54). The success rate at a mean follow-up of 5 years (2-6 years) was about 70% with a very low complication rate.
Purpose:We evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the minimally invasive Superion® Interspinous Spacer (VertiFlex, Inc., San Clemente, CA) in patients with moderate LSS.Methods:This single-arm prospective study enrolled 121 patients with moderate LSS between February 2008 and August 2009 and were followed up at 1 (n=111), 3 (n=96), 6 (n=81), and 12 (n=52) months. All patients were treated with the Superion Interspinous Spacer. Main outcomes were back function with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), extremity and axial pain severity with an 11-point scale, health-related quality of life with the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores from the SF-36, and adverse events through 12 months.Results:ODI improved 64% (p<0.001) through 12 months and clinical success was 92%. Extremity and axial pain improved 53% and 49% (both p<0.001), respectively, through 12 months with clinical success of 76% for axial pain and 86% for extremity pain. Health-related quality of life improved 41% for PCS and 22% for MCS (both p<0.001) through 12 months. PCS clinical success was 81% and MCS clinical success was 62% at 12 months. Four (5.9%) explants were performed although 3 were unrelated to the device. Eight procedure-related adverse events, observed in 6 (5.0%) patients, included superficial incision seroma (n=5), minor wound pain (n=2), and infection (n=1).Conclusions:Preliminary results with the Superion Interspinous Spacer suggest that it is an effective and safe treatment option for patients with moderate LSS who are unresponsive to conservative care.
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