Peripheral nerve injuries affect over one million individuals annually worldwide due to various causes such as trauma, metabolic disorders, and autoimmune diseases. While autologous nerve grafting remains the gold standard for treating large-gap nerve injuries, its limitations, including limited tissue availability, donor site morbidity, infection risk, and suboptimal functional recovery, have spurred interest in alternative approaches. Among these, allogeneic nerve grafting has emerged as a promising option, offering structural and functional advantages due to the native architecture of donor nerves.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe archive of any Pathology laboratory contains thousand of formalin-fixed and paraffin- embedded (FFPE) blocks and, as a result, serious space and management issues are created. Different authorities (with some variabilty) indicated that 10 years from the diagnosis is a congruous time before the disposal of stored tissues. Therefore, making room is not only a choice, but a necessity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recently, endoscopic approaches for orbital lesions have been proposed. Their results seem promising; however, orbital surgery remains challenging with possible significant morbidity, mostly because of orbital structures manipulation. Ultrasonography is an innovative intraoperative imaging technique that can assist the surgeon in these approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyoepithelial cells (MECs) constitute a continuous layer of cells surrounding the breast glands, localised between the epithelial cells (ECs) and the basal membrane. MECs play important roles in normal mammary gland as they produce basal membrane and stimulate secretion. During neoplastic transformation, MECs act as a barrier preventing stromal invasion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurosurg Case Lessons
August 2021
Background: The authors reported the first documented case of intracranial extraaxial nonneurofibromatosis type 1-related nontriton malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) originating from the falx cerebri.
Observations: A 34-year-old man with headache, short-term memory deficit, postural instability, and blurred vision presented with a large heterogenous contrast-enhanced intraventricular cystic lesion originating from the free margin of the falx cerebri. The patient received surgery using the right posterior interhemispheric approach.
Infratemporal and pterygopalatine fossae (ITF and PPF) represent two complex paramedian skull base areas, which can be defined as jewelry boxes, containing a large number of neurovascular and osteomuscular structures of primary importance. They are in close communication with many craniofacial areas, such as nasal/paranasal sinuses, orbit, middle cranial fossa, and oral cavities. Therefore, they can be involved by tumoral, infective or inflammatory lesions spreading from these spaces.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnalysis of genetic or epigenetic markers from saliva or brushing specimens has been proposed as a diagnostic aid to identify patients at risk of developing oral cancer. However, no reliable non-invasive molecular method for this purpose is commercially available. In the present report, we describe the potential application of a procedure based on a 13-gene DNA methylation analysis using oral brushing samples from a patient affected by oral leukoplakia who developed two metachronous oral carcinomas during the follow-up period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDefects of the peripheral nervous system are extremely frequent in trauma and surgeries and have high socioeconomic costs. If the direct suture of a lesion is not possible, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Congenital brain tumors are extremely rare in the neonatal population, and often associated with a poor prognosis. The diagnostic suspicion is often aroused at antenatal scans or postnatally, if clinical signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure become evident. We present a case of definitely congenital glioblastoma multiforme incidentally diagnosed in a preterm infant, aiming to raise clinical awareness on this condition and to highlight the challenges of the related diagnostic work-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Glioblastoma with multiple localizations (mGBMs) can be defined as multifocal, where enhancing lesions present a connection visible on magnetic resonance imaging fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging, or multicentric, in the absence of a clear dissemination pathway.
Objective: To evaluate the role of the extent of resection (EOR) in the treatment of mGBMs and its correlation with overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS).
Methods: One hundred patients with mGBMs were treated at our Institution between 2009 and 2019.
Front Neurol
February 2021
Tractography has been widely adopted to improve brain gliomas' surgical planning and guide their resection. This study aimed to evaluate state-of-the-art of arcuate fasciculus (AF) tractography for surgical planning and explore the role of along-tract analyses for characterizing tumor histopathology. High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) images were acquired for nine patients with tumors located in or near language areas (age: 41 ± 14 years, mean ± standard deviation; five males) and 32 healthy volunteers (age: 39 ± 16 years; 16 males).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPediatr Blood Cancer
May 2021
Meningiomas are an extremely rare histology among pediatric brain tumors, and there is a shortage of literature on their management. Proton therapy is currently used safely and effectively for many types of both pediatric and adult cancer, and its main advantage is the sparing of healthy tissues from radiation, which could translate in the reduction of late side effects. We review the literature on radiotherapy and proton therapy for pediatric meningiomas and report clinical outcomes for two aggressive pediatric meningiomas we treated with protons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhosphoinositide-specific phospholipases C (PI-PLCs) are a class of enzymes involved in the phosphatidylinositol metabolism, which is implicated in the activation of several signaling pathways and which controls several cellular processes. The scientific community has long accepted the existence of a nuclear phosphoinositide (PI) metabolism, independent from the cytoplasmic one, critical in nuclear function control. Indeed, nuclear PIs are involved in many activities, such as cell cycle regulation, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, membrane transport, gene expression and cytoskeletal dynamics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Pituitary macroadenomas (PAs) are usually defined as benign intracranial tumors. However, they may present local aggressive course. High Ki67 labelling index (LI) values have been related to an aggressive tumor behavior.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld Neurosurg
September 2020
Background: Hypertrophic pachymeningitis (HP) and spontaneous intracranial hypotension are different treatable diseases, which should promptly be recognized and treated to prevent neurologic sequelae. Headache and dural enhancement are the main features of both diseases, thus differentiating between these 2 conditions can be difficult.
Cases Description: We present 2 cases with headache and dural enhancement, in which the differential diagnosis was challenging at presentation because, in both cases, clear positional pain modification was not reported.
Intracranial extra-axial ependymomas (IEAEs) are extremely uncommon tumors and they could have a wide spectrum of clinical and radiological features. Here we report morphological features of an extra-axial ependymoma (radiology, histology and ultrastructural details) which mimicked the presentation of meningioma.
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