Distinctive Characteristics of Thoracolumbar Junction Region Stenosis.

Study Design: Retrospective case series and systemic literature meta-analysis.

Background: Thoracolumbar junction region stenosis produces spinal cord compression just above the conus and may manifest with symptoms that are not typical of either thoracic myelopathy or neurogenic claudication from lumbar stenosis.

Objective: As few studies describe its specific pattern of presenting symptoms and neurological deficits, this investigation was designed to improve understanding of this pathology.

Postoperative lumbar spine MRI: How well does a radiology report that raises suspicion for infection correlate with true clinical infection?

Introduction: Interpretation of a lumbar spine MRI in the immediate postoperative period is challenging, as postoperative tissue enhancement and fluid collections may be mistaken for infection. Radiology reports may use ambiguous language, creating a clinical problem for a surgeon in determining whether a patient needs treatment with antibiotics or revision surgery. Moreover, retrospective criticism of management in instances of a true infection may lead to medicolegal ramifications.

Spontaneous Hemorrhage Followed by Paraparesis in a Patient with a Spinal Meningioma.

Background: Although rare, spinal meningiomas may cause motor and sensory deficits or difficulty with bladder or bowel function due to spinal cord compression. Although hemorrhage of intracranial meningiomas is well documented, there are very few cases of hemorrhage or hematoma associated with spinal meningiomas in the literature. Spinal meningiomas have been reported to be associated with subdural, epidural, intratumoral, and subarachnoid hemorrhage, and usually in the setting of an inciting event such as lumbar puncture or anticoagulation therapy.

PTEN inhibits adrenomedullin expression and function in brain tumor cells.

Adrenomedullin is a vasoactive peptide that is upregulated in higher-grade gliomas and promotes tumor cell proliferation. Since reduced activity of the anti-oncogene PTEN seems to also correlate with higher tumor grade, this suggests an inverse association between PTEN activity and adrenomedullin expression. PC12 pheochromocytoma and human U251 glioma cell lines were stably transfected with human PTEN or control plasmid.

Long-term hearing preservation after surgery for vestibular schwannoma.

Object: Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are now amenable to resection with excellent hearing preservation rates. It remains unclear whether immediately postoperative hearing is a durable result and will not diminish over time. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of long-term preservation of functional hearing following surgery for a VS and to examine factors influencing hearing preservation.

Self-assessed quality of life after acoustic neuroma surgery.

Object: The aim of this study was to determine if factors such as postoperative hearing, facial function, headaches, or other factors have an impact on self-assessed quality of life (QOL) after acoustic neuroma surgery.

Methods: The SF-36 and seven additional questions on the impact of surgery on the QOL were sent to 135 consecutive patients who had undergone acoustic neuroma surgery. The Spearman rho correlations were calculated for each of the eight categories of the SF-36 (general health, physical functioning, physical role limitations, emotional role limitations, mental health, energy/vitality, pain, social functioning).

Future and current surgical therapies in Parkinson's disease.

Purpose Of Review: The mainstay of treatment for Parkinson's disease remains medical therapy. With improved surgical precision and decreased morbidity, stereotactic lesioning and deep brain stimulation have become more popular. New therapies currently in clinical trials include gene therapy and direct drug delivery to the brain.