The basement membrane at the tumour-brain interface of brain-invasive grade I meningiomas.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Tatagiba.
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Neurosurgical interventions during pregnancy represent a special clinical challenge and require a meticulously selected treatment strategy. A thorough understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms involving mother and fetus is mandatory. We report our experience with neurosurgical procedures during pregnancy and the puerperium and summarize the difficulties encountered. The emerging diagnostic as well as therapeutic implications in these complex cases are also discussed.
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The cochlear nerve of adult Lewis rats was following microsurgical exposure in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA). The lesions completely interrupted the auditory nerve axons at the lesion site producing ipsilateral deafness in all animals. The rats were then treated with a recombinant Fab fragment of the antibody IN-1 against nerve growth inhibitory proteins for one to two weeks. An age-matched control group of rats was treated with unspecific mouse IgG antibody. Because the cochlear nerve lesions resulted in significant neuronal apoptosis of spiral ganglion cells, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) was applied to the lesion site immediately post-injury in some rats. Electrophysiological studies were carried out by recording the brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) before and immediately after the lesion, and at regular intervals up to 2 months after injury. Cochlear nerve fibres were anterogradely traced by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) injected into the spiral ganglion. The results achieved in this study were consistent with the following conclusions: 1) transection of the adult rat cochlear nerve at the CPA results in functional deafness, disappearance of BAEP, apoptosis of parent axotomized neurons of the spiral ganglion, and interruption of labelled axons close to the lesion site; 2) NT-3 is able to partially rescue axotomized neurons of the spiral ganglion; 3) injured cochlear nerve fibres show a limited spontaneous sprouting and regrowth response which does not lead to BAEP recovery; 4) intrathecal treatment with IN-1 directed against myelin-associated neurite growth inhibitory proteins promotes significant elongation of the injured fibres; and 5) the regenerating fibres seem to navigate to correct targets, and be able to establish synaptic connections for functional recovery as depicted by BAEP examinations.
OBJECTS: Dermoid cysts accompanied by Klippel-Feil syndrome are uncommon, and the coincidence of these two rare diseases suggests an interesting idea about the pathogenesis of a dermoid cyst, which the authors consider with reference to an actual case. A posterior fossa dermoid cyst with dermal sinus and Klippel-Feil syndrome are reported in the same patient. A 23-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with progressive headaches. METHODS: Cervical radiography demonstrated C4-5 vertebral fusion, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large cystic mass in the midline of the posterior fossa. The cystic lesion was totally removed along with the accompanying dermal sinus. It was histopathologically diagnosed as a dermoid cyst. CONCLUSION: The rare coincidence of a dermoid cyst and Klippel-Feil syndrome suggests the possibility that a disturbance in the mesoderm before the fourth week of gestation might play an important part in the causation of dermoid cyst.
Pilocytic astrocytomas classified as WHO grade I typically arise in childhood and upon complete surgical removal carry a favorable prognosis. Children with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) have a vastly increased risk for pilocytic astrocytomas, especially for those of the optic nerve. Using 4 intragenic NF1 microsatellite markers, we examined losses of NF1 alleles on the long arm of chromosome 17 in 12 NF1-associated and 25 sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas. The TP53 gene region on the short arm of chromosome 17 was also examined in these tumors using 3 markers. Loss of 1 NF1 allele was detected in 11 of 12 (92%) informative NF1-associated pilocytic astrocytomas. In contrast, only 1 of 24 informative (4%) sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas exhibited allelic loss in the NF1 region. Among the 11 NF1-associated tumors with NF1 loss, 5 had also lost alleles on 17p. The high rate of NF1 allele loss in NF1-associated pilocytic astrocytomas suggests a tumor initiating or promoting action of the NF1 gene in these patients. On the other hand, the much lower rate of NF1-allele loss in sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas argues for only minor importance of NF1 in that patient group. The present data support different mechanisms in the formation of NF1-associated and sporadic pilocytic astrocytomas.
Osteochondroma is a rare tumor of the cervical spine. The authors present a rare case of osteochondroma narrowing the C 1/2 foramen and causing occipital neuralgia. Complete removal of the tumor was performed with release of the pain. The literature is reviewed and etiology, diagnosis, treatment and differential diagnosis are discussed.
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Neurenteric cysts of the craniocervical junction (CCJ) are very rare lesions. Their origin is the subject of long-standing controversy, but a failure during the embryogenic phase may be responsible for their formation. Accurate histopathological diagnosis may be difficult due to the similarity they share with other cystic lesions such as colloidal cysts, Rathke cysts, and cystic teratomas. Surgical removal is the treatment of choice for intracranial neurenteric cysts, but in some cases, infiltration of the surrounding structures may hinder complete resection. Three cases of neurenteric cysts located at the CCJ are reported.
Meningeal melanocytomas are uncommon lesions. They are generally considered to be benign tumors that derive from leptomeningeal melanocytes. A rare case of a metastatic spinal meningeal melanocytoma is presented. All relevant cases reported in literature since 1972, when the term "meningeal melanocytoma" was first used, were reviewed. Rates of tumor recurrence from 1 to 5 years were calculated for this rare lesion, based on published data and on additional information obtained from personal contact with most of the authors. Recurrency rates of 47 patients suitable for evaluation were correlated with the different therapeutic approaches. Complete tumor resection alone and incomplete resection alone followed by irradiation appeared to be superior to incomplete resection alone in terms of disease-free survival. Statistical significance was achieved for complete tumor resection at follow up between I and 4 years (range p = 0.010-0.050) and for incomplete resection combined with radiotherapy after 2 years (p = 0.034). Complete tumor resection should be considered the best therapeutic option, followed by incomplete resection combined with postoperative radiotherapy.
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OBJECTIVE: Significant numbers of patients experience intractable pain after brachial plexus root avulsions. Medications and surgical procedures such as amputation of the limb are often not successful in pain treatment. METHODS: Forty-seven patients with intractable pain after traumatic cervical root avulsions were treated with dorsal root entry zone coagulation between 1980 and 1998. The dorsal root entry zone coagulation procedure was performed 4 months to 12 years after the trauma, and patients were monitored for up to 18 years (average follow-up period, 14 yr). RESULTS: Immediately after surgery, 75% of patients experienced significant pain reduction; this value was reduced to 63% during long-term follow-up monitoring. Nine patients experienced major complications, including subdural hematomas (n = 2) and motor weakness of the lower limb (n = 7). Improved coagulation electrodes with thermistors that could produce smaller and more-accurate lesion sizes, which were introduced in 1989, significantly reduced the number of complications. CONCLUSION: Central deafferentation pain that persists and becomes intractable among patients with traumatic cervical root avulsions has been difficult to treat in the past. Long-term follow-up monitoring of patients who underwent the dorsal root entry zone coagulation procedure in the cervical cord indicated that long-lasting satisfactory relief is possible for the majority of individuals, with acceptable morbidity rates.
OBJECT: The auditory brainstem response (ABR) is the most widely used means of intra-operative monitoring of the integrity of the auditory nerve and brainstem pathways during surgery in the cerebellopontine angle (CPA). Reliability of this and other electrophysiological techniques has been questioned because of persisting potentials in direct nerve recordings despite complete eighth nerve section. The study was designed to assess the extent to which an acoustic evoked response persists after the cochlear nerve is lesioned in the CPA of the adult rat. METHODS: The eighth nerve was exposed microsurgically via a lateral suboccipital approach without damage to surrounding structures. The auditory brainstem response to monaurally presented click stimuli was recorded using needle electrodes and a bandpass of 10 to 5000 Hz. FINDINGS: Complete sharp sectioning of the nerve in the CPA resulted in immediate disappearance of brainstem-generated potentials but persistence of a large primary, vertex-positive wave in all but one case. This response was also abolished in recordings three days later and after emptying the inner ear canal. Provided that the cochlea remained intact, two weeks later a single, vertex-positive potential in the latency range of wave Ia of the ABR reappeared, reaching its peak amplitude six weeks after sectioning of the nerve. CONCLUSIONS: The short-latency electrical potential recorded following damage of the eighth nerve in the cerebellopontine angle can be mistaken for an indication that nerve function is still preserved. The evoked injury potential is probably the major contributor to this potential that resembles wave I of the ABR. Monitoring of functional auditory integrity must neither be limited to early components of the ABR, nor to the electrocochleogram (EcoG) and the peripheral compound nerve action potential (CNAP), respectively.
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Epidermoid cyst may rarely arise within the lateral wall of the cavernous sinus (CS) and produce clinical symptoms mimicking the Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. Pathogenically, it is suggested that some of the subpopulation of cells arising from the neural crest which give rise to skin, may remain entrapped in the meninges around the nerves in the lateral wall in an uncompleted stage of maturation and may develop epidermoid cysts. A case is presented of a 68-year-old man with a 4-week history previously diagnosed as Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. MRI is the investigation of choice. Surgical resection can result in excellent recovery of preoperative deficits of cranial nerves (CN) III through VI.
OBJECTIVE: The goals of this report were to outline the clinical presentation, radiological characteristics, surgical techniques, postoperative morbidity, and long-term follow-up results for cystic jugular foramen (JF) schwannomas and to describe their differences, compared with solid schwannomas involving the JF. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of radiological studies and surgical records identified five primarily cystic tumors among 21 cases of JF schwannomas that had been surgically treated at our institution. RESULTS: Two types of cystic JF schwannomas were observed, i.e., Type 1 lesions, which are single large cysts with thin ring-like enhancement of the tumor wall, and Type 2 lesions, which are multiple cysts with very irregular, thick enhancement of the cyst wall. The most common symptoms were hearing loss, ataxia, and headaches. Total surgical removal could be performed in all cases. The immediate postoperative findings indicated hearing improvement in three cases. No deterioration of lower cranial nerve function was observed. All patients were independent in the immediate postoperative period and in the long-term follow-up period (Karnofsky Performance Scale score, 90). CONCLUSION: Surgical treatment of cystic JF schwannomas can be very demanding because of generally stronger adhesion of the tumor capsule to the surrounding structures, fragile tumor capsules, and difficulty in identification of the arachnoidal planes in some cases. Early identification of the arachnoidal planes without opening of the cyst and sharp dissection may be useful. Careful intradural opening of the JF should be performed to achieve total removal of the last tumor portion within the JF. A comparison of these lesions with solid schwannomas involving the JF indicated that cystic tumors affected a younger population, with less preoperative swallowing impairment (P < 0.05). The immediate postoperative course in both types of cystic JF schwannomas was usually better than for solid lesions, because of minor postoperative cranial nerve morbidity, especially involving lower cranial nerve function, in the latter cases. Long-term follow-up data failed to demonstrate any significant differences in final patient outcomes, however.