Postoperative hematoma.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S J Haines.
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The techniques of skull base surgery attempt to maximize the exposure of a cranial base lesion while using the least amount of brain retraction. Cranial base surgery is not a 'new' area of neurosurgical or otolaryngologic interest, but instead represents a resurgence of efforts to treat difficult lesions involving the cranial base. This resurgence of interest and effort is a product of recent advances in microanatomical knowledge of the cranial base, advances in microsurgical technique, improved neurophysiologic monitoring, and improved collaborative relationships between neurosurgery, otolaryngology and plastic surgery. Furthermore, improved neuroanesthetic techniques allow the surgeon to proceed with surgery without undue concern about time, and improved neuroimaging techniques provide the surgeon with detailed knowledge of the three dimensional characteristics of the tumor and surrounding structures. This review will focus on the surgical management of cranial base tumors primarily affecting the pediatric population. Little has been written on the techniques of skull base surgery as they apply to the pediatric population, since cranially-based tumors are a relatively rare occurrence in this patient population. In most instances, however, many of the 'standard' skull base approaches can be applied to the pediatric patient with few modifications, and in our experience, the pediatric patients have tolerated these approaches as well as their adult counterparts.
The value of antibiotic prophylaxis for clean neurosurgical procedures without the implantation of a foreign body has been conclusively demonstrated. Attempts to confirm its efficacy for cerebrospinal fluid shunt operations have produced confusing and inconclusive results. The objective of this study was to combine the results of high-quality controlled trials of antibiotic prophylaxis for cerebrospinal fluid shunt operations and to determine if there is evidence for the efficacy of this policy. Randomized clinical trials identified from presentations at national meetings and in the published literature were subjected to a metanalysis. The pooled data suggest a statistically significant effect favoring antibiotic prophylaxis (approximately a 50% reduction in infection risk when antibiotic prophylaxis is used). The effect is strongly related to the baseline infection rate when prophylaxis is not used and disappears when the baseline infection rate is at or below about 5%.
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Ten pediatric patients with multiloculated hydrocephalus caused by neonatal meningitis, ventriculitis, or intraventricular hemorrhage were surgically treated over a 14-year period (January 1, 1976, to December 31, 1990). Six patients underwent craniotomy and transcallosal fenestration of intraventricular septations followed by placement of a shunt, while the other four were treated by shunting procedures alone. Craniotomy resulted in reduction of the shunt revision rate from a median of 2.75 per year prior to fenestration to 0.25 per year following fenestration, with median observation periods of 44.5 and 27 months, respectively. This was compared to a median revision rate of 0.55 per year for patients treated with shunting procedures alone. There were no deaths in either group. Although no surgical complications were encountered, one patient did require a second fenestration procedure. The important aspects of multiloculated hydrocephalus, including pathophysiology, radiographic correlates, and treatment options, are discussed. The goal of treatment is to eliminate the need for multiple shunt revisions, minimizing the accompanying morbidity and expense. It is concluded that craniotomy and transcallosal fenestration of intraventricular septations is a successful treatment of multiloculated hydrocephalus.
Diagnosis of very small acoustic neuromas has become much more common since the advent of magnetic resonance imaging. Many of the patients so diagnosed have minimal unilateral hearing loss as their only symptom. Because limited information is available on the natural history and prognosis of these lesions, the choice of treatment is controversial. The authors review their recent experience with the surgical treatment of intracanalicular acoustic neuroma. The records of 14 consecutive patients with intracanalicular acoustic neuroma were reviewed with respect to type of presentation, pre- and postoperative facial and auditory nerve function, surgical approach, and complications. Detailed results for patients operated on to preserve hearing are presented. Presenting symptoms were nearly equally divided among diminished hearing, vertigo, and tinnitus. Eleven of the 14 patients had serviceable hearing preoperatively and nine (82%) remained in this condition postoperatively. Facial nerve function was unchanged by operation in 12 patients. Seven operations were performed through the middle fossa, five through the posterior fossa, and two by the translabyrinthine approach. The probability of preserving hearing during surgical excision of intracanalicular acoustic neuroma in patients with serviceable hearing exceeds 80%. Given the relative infrequency of serious complications and the likelihood of progressive hearing loss in the untreated patient, excision of such small tumors shortly after diagnosis may offer the best chance of long-term hearing preservation.
The development of effective cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts represents a landmark achievement in neurosurgery. This success, however, has been tempered by a high incidence of serious complications that accompany the diversion of CSF. This article examines the various complications of CSF shunting, including proximal, valve, and distal obstruction; infection; and other rare complications, and management of these complications.
The earliest surgical procedures on the brain stem parenchyma were directed at sectioning specific fiber pathways to alleviate pain. Subsequently, some tumors, abscesses, and vascular lesions that displace rather than invade the parenchyma have been successfully removed. Future advances depend on the ability to preserve and restore neural function in operated tissue.
Few models of experimental brain stem surgery exist in the literature. Often, experiments were devised in the animal laboratory after a similar surgical procedure already had been attempted on human subjects. Many of the experiments referenced in this article were performed with the goal of delineating neuroanatomic or neurophysiologic pathways, and then this information was used to develop new techniques in the clinical arena, such as BAERs. A new model for brain stem hemorrhage is presented in this article as well as a comparison of the outcomes of open surgical evacuation, stereotactic aspiration, and control animals with pontine hemorrhages.
The pathophysiology of primary pontine hemorrhagic events is unclear, but the traditional classification of hemorrhage or hematoma does not have either pathologic or clinical support. Reported cases of brain stem hemorrhage suggest that patients who suffer progressive deterioration from hemorrhagic pontine lesions may benefit from surgery even if they eventually become comatose, whereas those who suddenly lose consciousness and have profound neurologic deficit probably will not survive.
Eighth nerve action potential (AP) amplitudes and latencies and cochlear microphonic (CM) amplitudes were compared using tympanic and transtympanic electrocochleography (ECOG) in two patient groups. Tympanic ECOG was performed with a wick electrode placed on the tympanic membrane (TM). Transtympanic ECOG was performed with a needle electrode placed on the promontory of the anesthetized patient. Eighteen subjects were tested by tympanic ECOG as part of a preoperative assessment for either acoustic neuroma removal or transection of the vestibular portion of the eighth cranial nerve. Surgery occurred within 1 week of the preoperative evaluation. Intraoperative auditory monitoring was performed using transtympanic ECOG. Baseline recordings were compared to the preoperative tympanic ECOG data. Stimuli were condensation and rarefaction clicks and tone bursts, presented by an insert earphone. As expected, the two methods resulted in essentially identical response latencies and large amplitude differences, although the response amplitudes were extremely variable. The AP amplitude and the CM amplitude did not increase by the same factor with the transtympanic (TT) electrode compared to the tympanic electrode. On comparison of preoperative and intraoperative response amplitudes with regard to stimulus polarity, tympanic electrocochleography appears to be a useful method of gathering preliminary information on the status of the patient's auditory system. In this study, tympanic ECOG was found to have some predictive value when trying to ascertain the best intraoperative monitoring situation.
The effects of the selective dopaminergic neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) on the kinematics of two-dimensional arm movements in the primate were studied. Two rhesus monkeys were trained to move a manipulandum at various distances and directions in horizontal space from a centrally located target box. Several kinematic parameters including reaction time, and time and amplitude of peak tangential velocity were analysed. Following an extensive control evaluation period, the animals were unilaterally injected with MPTP into the internal carotid artery. The animals were restudied for up to 289 days following induction of hemiparkinsonism. Larger-amplitude movements (greater than 3.5 cm) were more severely affected than smaller amplitude movements. Both animals exhibited marked changes in the arm movements including increased time-to-peak velocity and decreased peak velocity. The degree of the kinematic changes was spatially dependent, with the decrease in velocity as well as the time-to-peak velocity being more pronounced for the larger, outward movements. Reaction time increased but showed no spatial dependency. Kinematic deficits persisted over the entire time-period studied. Also, the kinematic changes were reduced by levo-3,4 dihydroxyphenylalanine in a dose-dependent manner. Tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry documented extensive cell loss in the substantia nigra. These results show that both the timing as well as the amplitude of the velocity profiles are disrupted by MPTP consistent with the known akinesia and bradykinesia of parkinsonism. Although abnormalities were present for all directions and distances, a spatial dependency to the deficits was detected. The observation of more pronounced changes for larger, outward movements suggests a role for the basal ganglia in production of larger-amplitude movements directed away from the body.
Combined frontal, orbital and zygomatic osteotomies have expanded the skull base surgeon's repertoire of approaches to the anterior skull base. Techniques borrowed from craniofacial surgery provide for extensive exposure of the orbit and anterior fossa while minimizing brain retraction. This article emphasizes the variations on the theme of fronto-orbital craniotomy that allow this approach to be adapted to the precise location and extent of the lesion to be excised. Familiarity with these versatile techniques is an important part of the skull base surgeon's armamentarium.
A retrospective analysis of 34 patients who underwent microsurgical therapy for craniopharyngioma from 1975 to 1989, a period when CT imaging was routinely used, is presented. Mean follow-up was 6.4 years with no patients lost to follow-up. Those who underwent subtotal resection with adjuvant radiation had a significantly better recurrence-free interval compared with those who either underwent total or subtotal surgical resection only (p < 0.05 and p < 0.025). Among patients treated with surgery alone, the total resection group had a recurrence rate of 20% and those with a subtotal resection 60%. Those with subtotal resection and radiation had a 12% rate of recurrence. Endocrine and visual deficits were common after surgery. Based on this review, our results suggest that with a policy of attempted total resection where possible, subtotal removal along with adjuvant radiation, in cases where total resection was deemed unsafe, may be more effective than aggressive total resection alone as the initial management of craniopharyngioma.
Calvarial neoplastic and non-neoplastic tumors are routinely encountered by all neurosurgeons. Benign and malignant skull base and meningeal tumors are relatively rare lesions in children. Interdisciplinary approaches to those tumors more frequently encountered in the pediatric population in these locations are discussed. Unique aspects of the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for infants and children are discussed.
We report here a case of esthesioneuroblastoma an 11-year-old girl presenting as acute loss of vision with minimal evidence of orbital, nasal, or paranasal sinus disease, a rare presenting symptom for this tumor. The initial diagnosis was postviral optic neuritis, a pattern of presentation not previously reported. When vision failed to improve, magnetic resonance imaging revealed a lesion in the posterior ethmoid and sphenoid sinuses. After a biopsy, the tumor was excised through the cranium and paranasal sinuses. A mass completely surrounding the optic nerve without invasion was found. Histochemical staining suggested demyelination secondary to compression, confirming the clinical impression of optic neuritis. Anti-Leu 7 monoclonal antibody is useful in characterizing of this tumor, since other immunochemical stains can be misleading. Radiation and chemotherapy were given after the tumor was removed. Two years later, the patient has had neither recurrence nor complications.