The role of major journals publishing the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is crucial. This is because, when results are published in a major journal, the study receives “…the journal’s stamp of approval”, the published results carry a kind of professional approbation, and the paper becomes more attractive to both the readers and media, who may amplify the real value of the results.
Powell et al. sought to evaluate the Financial conflicts of interest of physicians followed on Twitter by the top three neurosurgical journals.
They analysed the Financial conflicts of interest of United States (US) physicians followed by the top three neurosurgical journals (Journal of Neurosurgery, World Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery) on Twitter. They determined the Financial conflicts of interest of each physician using the Open Payments Search Tool located at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov and summed the data between 2014 and 2021.
They examined 2651 Twitter accounts followed by the top three neurosurgical journals on Twitter and determined 705 (26.6%) belonged to US physicians. Of the 705 US physicians, 577 (81.8%) received general payments between 2014 and 2021. After excluding US physicians currently in residency or fellowship (n = 157), this percentage increased to 93.2% (n = 511/548). In total, nearly $70 million in general payments were made between 2014 and 2021.
These findings raise questions regarding the interaction between neurosurgical journals and the medical community on Twitter. This study may serve as the basis for future work on best practices for medical journals navigating their affiliations on Twitter 1).
Staartjes et al. aimed to evaluate the extent and influence of conflicts of interest (COIs) in recent RCTs published in core neurosurgical journals using a cross-sectional analysis.
Through review of 6 general neurosurgical journals, all interventional RCTs published from January 2009 to January 2019 were identified. Because it is difficult to objectively assess study outcome, the authors opted for a strict rating approach based on the statistical significance of unambiguously reported primary endpoints, and the reported statistical protocol.
A total of 129 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. During the study period, the Journal of Neurosurgery published the largest number of RCTs (n = 40, 31%). Any potential COI was disclosed by 57%, and a mean of 12% of authors had a personal COI. Nonfinancial industry involvement was reported in 10%, while 31% and 20% received external support and sponsoring, respectively. Study registration was reported by 56%, while 51% of studies were blinded. Registration showed an increasing trend from 17% to 76% (p < 0.001). The median randomized sample size was 92 (interquartile range 50-153), and 8% were designed to investigate noninferiority or equality. Sixty-three RCTs (49%) unambiguously reported a primary endpoint, of which 13% were composite primary endpoints. In 43%, study outcome was positive, which was associated with a noninferiority design (31% vs 3%, p = 0.007) and a composite primary endpoint (46% vs 9%, p = 0.002). Potential COIs were not significantly associated with study positivity (69% vs 59%, p = 0.433). In the multivariate analysis, only a composite primary endpoint remained predictive of a positive study outcome (odds ratio 6.34, 95% confidence interval 1.51-33.61, p = 0.017).
This analysis provides an overview of COIs and their potential influence on recent trials published in core neurosurgical journals. Reporting of primary endpoints, study registration, and uniform disclosure of COIs are crucial to ensure the quality of future neurosurgical randomized trials. COIs do not appear to significantly influence the outcome of randomized neurosurgical trials 2).
The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of publicly available online disclosure policies in the 20 highest-ranking neurosurgical journals, as determined by Google Scholar Metrics, in July 2016.
In 2016, the majority of, but not all, high-impact neurosurgical journals had publically available COI disclosure policies. Policy inclusiveness and comprehensiveness varied substantially across neurosurgical journals, but COI comprehensiveness was associated with other established markers of individual journals’ favorability and influence, such as impact factor and h5-index3).
A study aimed to determine the prevalence and financial magnitude of potential conflict of interest among editorial board members of five leading spinejournals. The editorial boards of: The Spine Journal; Spine; European Spine Journal; Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine; and Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques were extracted on January 2013 from the journals’ websites. Disclosure statements were retrieved from the 2013 disclosure index of the North American Spine Society; the program of the 20th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques; the program of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society; the program of the AOSpine global spine congress; the presentations of the 2013 Annual Eurospine meeting; and the disclosure index of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Names of the editorial board members were compared with the individuals who completed a disclosure for one of these indexes. Disclosures were extracted when full names matched. Two hundred and ten (29%) of the 716 identified editorial board members reported a potential conflict of interest and 154 (22%) reported nothing to disclose. The remaining 352 (49%) editorial board members had no disclosure statement listed for one of the indexes. Eighty-nine (42%) of the 210 editorial board members with a potential conflict of interest reported a financial relationship of more than $10,000 during the prior year. This finding confirms that potential conflicts of interest exist in editorial boards which might influence the peer review process and can result in bias. Academia and medical journals in particular should be aware of this and strive to improve transparency of the review process. Janssen et al. emphasize recommendations that contribute to achieving this goal 4).
Traditional peer-review processes used by journal editors to aid in deciding which papers are worth publishing is not capable of filtering some of the more sophisticated techniques of covered marketing and conflicts of interest. The incorporation of ethicists in the peer review process would likely help to raise red flags and to properly consider the routine statement that the study was accepted by the “human review board” of some prestigious university. By rejecting suspicious ethical studies, editors may not be able to help make the world a fairer place, but they will help in building a healthier scientific community and sending a clear message, to both scientists and the industry, that it is unacceptable to exploit and potentially harm a few people for the sake of many 5).
Editorial board members of medical journals
Conflicts of interest arising from ties between pharmaceutical industry and physicians are common and may bias research. The extent to which these ties exist among editorial board members of medical journals is not known.
A study aims to determine the prevalence and financial magnitude of potential conflicts of interest among editorial board members of five leading spine journals. The editorial boards of: The Spine Journal; Spine; European Spine Journal; Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine; and Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques were extracted on January 2013 from the journals’ websites. Disclosure statements were retrieved from the 2013 disclosure index of the North American Spine Society; the program of the 20th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques; the program of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society; the program of the AOSpine global spine congress; the presentations of the 2013 Annual Eurospine meeting; and the disclosure index of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Names of the editorial board members were compared with the individuals who completed a disclosure for one of these indexes. Disclosures were extracted when full names matched. Two hundred and ten (29%) of the 716 identified editorial board members reported a potential conflict of interest and 154 (22%) reported nothing to disclose. The remaining 352 (49%) editorial board members had no disclosure statement listed for one of the indexes. Eighty-nine (42%) of the 210 editorial board members with a potential conflict of interest reported a financial relationship of more than $10,000 during the prior year. This finding confirms that potential conflicts of interest exist in editorial boards which might influence the peer review process and can result in bias. Academia and medical journals in particular should be aware of this and strive to improve transparency of the review process. Janssen et al. emphasize recommendations that contribute to achieving this goal 6).
Powell K, McCall K, Hooda K, Prasad V, Kakkilaya A. Financial conflicts of interest of physicians followed by neurosurgical journals on Twitter. Int J Health Plann Manage. 2023 Jan 3. doi: 10.1002/hpm.3611. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36597174.
Staartjes VE, Klukowska AM, Sorba EL, Schröder ML. Conflicts of interest in randomized controlled trials reported in neurosurgical journals. J Neurosurg. 2019 Aug 16:1-10. doi: 10.3171/2019.5.JNS183560. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID: 31419788.
Janssen SJ, Bredenoord AL, Dhert W, de Kleuver M, Oner FC, Verlaan JJ. Potential Conflicts of Interest of Editorial Board Members from Five Leading Spine Journals. PLoS One. 2015 Jun 4;10(6):e0127362. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127362. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 26042410.
Sahuquillo J, Biestro A. Is intracranial pressure monitoring still required in the management of severe traumatic brain injury? Ethical and methodological considerations on conducting clinical research in poor and low-income countries. Surg Neurol Int. 2014 Jun 5;5:86. doi: 10.4103/2152-7806.133993. eCollection 2014. PubMed PMID: 25024886; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4093744.
Neurosurgeons around the world are united by their desire to help patients, especially in these unpredictable times. In the latest articles from AANS Neurosurgeon, authors share experiences of global neurosurgery and how the field has developed over time. New today:
The Search for a Biological Link between Reactivated HSV and Neurological Disease
Without even knowing it, most of us carry around latent Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) in our nervous system—a simple result of being born and living together with others carrying the virus. Read More
Aerobic Exercise May Treat Persistent Post-concussive Symptoms in Adults
A new study will evaluate whether persistent symptoms following concussion, also known as post-concussion syndrome, can be treated using a personalized, progressive aerobic exercise program. Read More
Novel use of Robotics for Neuroendovascular Procedures
Surgeons at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University are pioneering the use of robotics in neuroendovascular procedures, which are performed via the blood vessels of the neck and brain. Read More
Acta Editor’s Choice! Free access as of 7 May until 18 June 2020
Neurosurgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: update from Lombardy, Northern Italy. Read more
The impact of COVID-19 on neurosurgeons and the strategy for triaging non-emergent operations: a global neurosurgery study. Read more
Letter to the editor by Dobran Mauro, Paracino Riccardo, and Iacoangeli Maurizio regarding “Neurosurgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: update from Lombardy, northern Italy.” Zoia C, Bongetta D, Veiceschi P, Cenzato M, Di Meco F, Locatelli D, Boeris D, Fontanella MM. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2020 Mar 28. doi: 10.1007/s00701-020-04305-w. Read more
The response during a pandemic is a blurred vision of the future. Reflections on the Lombardy reorganization of the neurosurgical emergencies during the COVID-19. Read more
Our darkest hours (being neurosurgeons during the COVID-19 war). Read more
Long-term excess mortality after chronic subdural hematoma. Read more. Read more
Intermediate-term clinical and radiographic outcomes with less invasive adult spinal deformity surgery: patients with a minimum follow-up of 4 years. Read more
A randomized controlled trial (RCT) remains the pinnacle of clinical research design. However, RCTs in neurosurgery, especially those comparing surgery to non-operative treatment, are rare and their relevance and applicability have been questioned.
From 2000 to 2017, PubMed and Embasedatabases and four trial registries were searched. RCTs were evaluated for study design, funding, adjustments to reported outcome measures, accrual of patients, and academic impact.
Eighty-two neurosurgical RCTs were identified, 40 in spine disorders, 19 neurovascular and neurotrauma, 11 functional neurosurgery, ten peripheral nerve, and two pituitary surgery. Eighty-four RCTs were registered, of which some are ongoing. Trial registration rate differed per subspecialty. Funding was mostly from non-industry institutions (58.5%), but 25.6% of RCTs did not report funding sources. 36.4% of RCTs did not report a difference between surgical and non-operative treatment, 3.7% favored non-operative management. Primary and secondary outcome measures were changed in 13.2% and 34.2% of RCTs respectively and varied by subspecialty. 41.9% of RCTs subtracted ≥ 10% of the anticipated accrual and 12.9% of RCTs added ≥ 10%. 7.3% of registered RCTs were terminated, mostly due to too slow recruitment. Subspecialty, registration, funding, masking, population size, and changing outcome measures were not significantly associated with a reported benefit of surgery. High Jadad scores (≥ 4) were negatively associated with a demonstration of surgical benefit (P < 0.05).
Neurosurgical RCTs comparing surgical to non-operative treatment often find a benefit for surgical treatment. Changes to outcome measurements and anticipated accrual are common and funding sources are not always reported 1).
The median sample size in the 401 eligible RCTs was 73 patients with a mean patient age of 49.6. Only 111 trials (27.1%) described allocationconcealment, 140 (34.6%) provided power calculations, and 117 (28.9%) were adequately powered. Significant efficacy or trend for efficacy was claimed in 226 reports (56.4%), no difference between the procedures was found in 166 trials (41.4%), and significant harm was reported in 9 trials (2.2%). Trials with a larger sample size were more likely to report randomization mode, specify allocation concealment, and power calculations (all P < .001). Government funding was associated with better specification of power calculations (P = .008) and of allocation concealment (P = .026), while industry funding was associated with reporting significant efficacy (P = .02). Reporting of funding, specification of randomization mode and primary outcomes, and mention of power calculations improved significantly (all, P < .05) over time.
Several aspects of the design and reporting of RCTs on neurosurgical procedures have improved over time. Better powered and accurately reported trials are needed in neurosurgery to deliver evidence based care and achieve optimal outcomes 2).
Martin E, Muskens IS, Senders JT, DiRisio AC, Karhade AV, Zaidi HA, Moojen WA, Peul WC, Smith TR, Broekman MLD. Randomized controlled trials comparing surgery to non-operative management in neurosurgery: a systematic review. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2019 Feb 23. doi: 10.1007/s00701-019-03849-w. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID: 30798479.
Azad TD, Veeravagu A, Mittal V, Esparza R, Johnson E, Ioannidis JPA, Grant GA. Neurosurgical Randomized Controlled Trials-Distance Travelled. Neurosurgery. 2018 May 1;82(5):604-612. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyx319. PubMed PMID: 28645203.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines conflict of interest as “circumstances that create a risk that professional judgments or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest” 1).
COI are inherent to collaboration and innovation, and are therefore an unavoidable component of neurosurgery. The lack of a clear distinction between clinical practice and innovation, ability to use devices off-label, and unstandardized disclosure requirements create inconsistencies in the way that conflicts of interest are handled. Additionally, lack of requirements to compare innovation to the standard of care and inherent bias that affects study design and interpretation can have profound effects on the medical literature. Conflicts of interest can have both direct and downstream effects on neurosurgical practice, and it is possible to manage them while improving the quality of research and innovation.
Conflicts of interest are inherent to surgical innovation, and can be handled in an ethically sound manner. Neurosurgeons, device companies, hospitals, and medical journals can take steps to proactively confront bias and ensure patient autonomy and safety. These steps can preserve public trust and ultimately improve evidence-based neurosurgical practice 2).
Relationships
Financial and nonfinancial relationships between pharmaceutical or medical device industry, physicians, investigators, and academic institutions are common and generally considered essential for development of new technology and advancement in medicine 3)4).
However, these ties may at the same time create conflicts of interest: a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgments or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest 5).
Industry’s interests
The health care industry-manufacturers of drugs, devices, and medical equipment and its associated political and lobbying power, heavily influence strategic directions in clinical research. They may intervene, through experts with disclosed or silenced financial industry ties, in clinical guideline formation and dissemination, and may ultimately affect daily clinical practice.
The industry’s interests are not necessarily aligned with the interests of patients and society and may lead to study participant injury or harm and also reduce the public’s trust and confidence in clinical research.
It is obvious that the growing number of clinical trials conducted in vulnerable countries requires commitment from all stakeholders to ensure adherence to a core of internationally accepted ethical principles that reflect one of the basic ethical premises of the Declaration of Helsinki; that is, that the interests of science and society are not an excuse to conduct clinical trials in vulnerable countries.
Transnational clinical research should be controlled by internationally accredited ethical review boards, and research protocols rejected in one country should not be given permission to proceed elsewhere.
In addition, international human research monitoring agencies should have “…the power to sanction corporations and research groups that fail to respect universal standards”.
While these mechanisms are implemented, the role of major journals publishing the results of RCTs is crucial. This is because, as Smith emphasizes, when results are published in a major journal, the study receives “…the journal’s stamp of approval”, the published results carry a kind of professional approbation, and the paper becomes more attractive to both the readers and media, who may amplify the real value of the results.
A study aimed to determine the prevalence and financial magnitude of potential conflict of interest among editorial board members of five leading spinejournals. The editorial boards of: The Spine Journal; Spine; European Spine Journal; Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine; and Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques were extracted on January 2013 from the journals’ websites. Disclosure statements were retrieved from the 2013 disclosure index of the North American Spine Society; the program of the 20th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques; the program of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society; the program of the AOSpine global spine congress; the presentations of the 2013 Annual Eurospine meeting; and the disclosure index of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Names of the editorial board members were compared with the individuals who completed a disclosure for one of these indexes. Disclosures were extracted when full names matched. Two hundred and ten (29%) of the 716 identified editorial board members reported a potential conflict of interest and 154 (22%) reported nothing to disclose. The remaining 352 (49%) editorial board members had no disclosure statement listed for one of the indexes. Eighty-nine (42%) of the 210 editorial board members with a potential conflict of interest reported a financial relationship of more than $10,000 during the prior year. This finding confirms that potential conflicts of interest exist in editorial boards which might influence the peer review process and can result in bias. Academia and medical journals in particular should be aware of this and strive to improve transparency of the review process. Janssen et al. emphasize recommendations that contribute to achieving this goal 6).
Traditional peer-review processes used by journal editors to aid in deciding which papers are worth publishing is not capable of filtering some of the more sophisticated techniques of covered marketing and conflicts of interest. The incorporation of ethicists in the peer review process would likely help to raise red flags and to properly consider the routine statement that the study was accepted by the “human review board” of some prestigious university. By rejecting suspicious ethical studies, editors may not be able to help make the world a fairer place, but they will help in building a healthier scientific community and sending a clear message, to both scientists and the industry, that it is unacceptable to exploit and potentially harm a few people for the sake of many 7).
Surgeon-industry
Surgeon-industry conflict of interest (COI) has become a source of considerable interest. Professional medical societies, industry, and policy makers have attempted to regulate potential COI without consideration for public opinion.
The objective of a study was to report on the opinions of individuals representing the general public regarding surgeon-industry consulting relationships.
Survey was administered using a “spine Web site,” and opinions are collected on surgeon-industry consulting and regulation. Associations among responses to similar questions were assessed to ensure validity and subgroup analysis performed for respondent age, sex, education, insurance, employment, and patient status.
Six hundred ten of 642 surveys had complete data. The sample population comprised more females and was older and more educated than the American population. About 80% of respondents felt it was ethical and either beneficial or of no influence to the quality of health care if surgeons were consultants for surgical device companies. Most felt disclosure of an industry relationship was important and paying surgeons royalties for devices, other than those they directly implant, would not affect quality of care. Respondents support multidisciplinary surgeon-industry COI regulation and trust doctors and their professional societies to head this effort.
Despite the known potential negative impact of surgeon-industry COI on patient care, this study revealed that this does not seem to be reflected in the opinion of the general public. The respondents felt that disclosure is deemed one of the most important means of self-regulation and COI management, which is in agreement with current trends of most spine societies and journals that are increasing the stringency of disclosure policies 8).
Editorial board members of medical journals
Conflicts of interest arising from ties between pharmaceutical industry and physicians are common and may bias research. The extent to which these ties exist among editorial board members of medical journals is not known.
A study aims to determine the prevalence and financial magnitude of potential conflicts of interest among editorial board members of five leading spine journals. The editorial boards of: The Spine Journal; Spine; European Spine Journal; Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine; and Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques were extracted on January 2013 from the journals’ websites. Disclosure statements were retrieved from the 2013 disclosure index of the North American Spine Society; the program of the 20th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques; the program of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society; the program of the AOSpine global spine congress; the presentations of the 2013 Annual Eurospine meeting; and the disclosure index of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Names of the editorial board members were compared with the individuals who completed a disclosure for one of these indexes. Disclosures were extracted when full names matched. Two hundred and ten (29%) of the 716 identified editorial board members reported a potential conflict of interest and 154 (22%) reported nothing to disclose. The remaining 352 (49%) editorial board members had no disclosure statement listed for one of the indexes. Eighty-nine (42%) of the 210 editorial board members with a potential conflict of interest reported a financial relationship of more than $10,000 during the prior year. This finding confirms that potential conflicts of interest exist in editorial boards which might influence the peer review process and can result in bias. Academia and medical journals in particular should be aware of this and strive to improve transparency of the review process. Janssen et al. emphasize recommendations that contribute to achieving this goal 9).
Physician fully employed by industry
We would not allow a physician fully employed by industry to make a scientific presentation or publish an article for a peer-reviewed journal related to his or her company’s device or drug, yet we know from previously released orthopedic surgeon related data that many physician lecturers and writers are receiving yearly “consulting fees” and “royalty arrangements” that greatly exceed what is paid to physicians employed by device manufacturers—many above $1 million/year 10)11)12).
If publicly reporting these numbers places some in an uncomfortable position, so be it. This information is critical in the analysis of the clarity, sanctity, and scientific integrity of information and data presented. Collaboration has been valuable, but full transparency is critical to open, unbiased scientific dialogue and exchange.
DiRisio AC, Muskens IS, Cote DJ, Babu M, Gormley WB, Smith TR, Moojen WA, Broekman ML. Oversight and Ethical Regulation of Conflicts of Interest in Neurosurgery in the United States. Neurosurgery. 2019 Feb 1;84(2):305-312. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyy227. PubMed PMID: 29850841.
Bekelman JE, Li Y, Gross CP. Scope and impact of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research: a systematic review. JAMA. 2003; 289: 454–465.
Steering Committee on Science and Creationism: National Academy of Sciences (1999) Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, Second Edition The National Academies Press;
Janssen SJ, Bredenoord AL, Dhert W, de Kleuver M, Oner FC, Verlaan JJ. Potential Conflicts of Interest of Editorial Board Members from Five Leading Spine Journals. PLoS One. 2015 Jun 4;10(6):e0127362. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127362. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 26042410.
Sahuquillo J, Biestro A. Is intracranial pressure monitoring still required in the management of severe traumatic brain injury? Ethical and methodological considerations on conducting clinical research in poor and low-income countries. Surg Neurol Int. 2014 Jun 5;5:86. doi: 10.4103/2152-7806.133993. eCollection 2014. PubMed PMID: 25024886; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4093744.
DiPaola CP, Dea N, Noonan VK, Bailey CS, Dvorak MF, Fisher CG. Surgeon-industry conflict of interest: survey of North Americans’ opinions regarding surgeons consulting with industry. Spine J. 2014 Apr;14(4):584-91. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2013.06.028. Epub 2013 Aug 22. PubMed PMID: 23973098.
Factors influencing outcomes of the treatment of positional plagiocephaly in infants: a 7-year experience
While this has been successful in reducing SIDS, it has also resulted in a substantial increase in the prevalence of positional skull deformity. Read More
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Factors influencing outcomes of the treatment of positional plagiocephaly in infants: a 7-year experience
Sandi Lam, MD, MBA1, I-Wen Pan, PhD1, Ben A. Strickland, MD1, Caroline Hadley, MD1, Bradley Daniels, BS1, Jim Brookshier, CPO, LPO2, and Thomas G. Luerssen, MD1 1Department of Neurosurgery/Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine; and 2Hanger Clinic, Houston, Texas
The health belief model and factors associated with adherence to treatment recommendations for positional plagiocephaly
Sandi Lam, MD, MBA1, Thomas G. Luerssen, MD1, Caroline Hadley, MD1, Bradley Daniels, BS1, Ben A. Strickland, MD1, Jim Brookshier, CPO, LPO2, and I-Wen Pan, PhD1 1Department of Neurosurgery/Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine; and 2Hanger Orthotics, Houston, Texas
Preoperative transdural collateral vessels in moyamoya as radiographic biomarkers of disease
Armide Storey, BS1, R. Michael Scott, MD1, Richard Robertson, MD2, and Edward Smith, MD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Radiology, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Possible toxicity following embolization of congenital giant vertex hemangioma: case report
Ingrid Kieran, MD1, Zaitun Zakaria, MD2, Chandrasekaran Kaliaperumal, FRCSEd2, Declan O’Rourke, MRCP3, Alan O’Hare, FRCR4, Eoghan Laffan, FFR5, John Caird, FRCSI(SN)2, Mary D. King, FRCPI, FRCPCH3, and Dylan J. Murray, FRCS, FDS, FFD1Departments of 1Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery, 2Neurosurgery, 3Pediatric Neurology, and 5Radiology, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital; and 4Department of Neuroradiology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
Correlations of atrial diameter and frontooccipital horn ratio with ventricle size in fetal ventriculomegaly
Jared M. Pisapia, MD1,2, Martin Rozycki, MS2, Hamed Akbari, MD, PhD2, Spyridon Bakas, PhD2, Jayesh P. Thawani, MD1, Julie S. Moldenhauer, MD3, Phillip B. Storm, MD1,4, Deborah M. Zarnow, MD5, Christos Davatzikos, PhD2, and Gregory G. Heuer, MD, PhD1,4 1Department of Neurosurgery; 2Center for Biomedical Image Computing and Analytics, University of Pennsylvania; 3Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, Special Delivery Unit; and Divisions of 4Neurosurgery and 5Neuroradiology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hydrocephalus in a patient with an unruptured pial arteriovenous fistula: hydrodynamic considerations, endovascular treatment, and clinical course
Jesús A. Morales-Gómez, MD1, Vicente V. Garza-Oyervides, MD1, José A. Arenas-Ruiz, MD1, Mariana Mercado-Flores, MD2, C. Guillermo Elizondo-Riojas, MD, PhD2, Frederick A. Boop, MD3, and Ángel Martínez-Ponce de León, MD1 1Servicio de Neurocirugía and 2Centro Universitario de Imagen Diagnóstica, Hospital Universitario “Dr. José Eleuterio González,” Monterrey, Nuevo León, México; and 3Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, Tennessee
Endonasal management of pediatric congenital transsphenoidal encephaloceles: nuances of a modified reconstruction technique. Technical note and report of 3 cases
Mehdi Zeinalizadeh, MD1,2, Seyed Mousa Sadrehosseini, MD3, Zohreh Habibi, MD4, Farideh Nejat, MD4, Harley Brito da Silva, MD5, and Harminder Singh, MD6 1Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries Repair and Research Center, 2Department of Neurological Surgery, and 3Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences; and 4Department of Neurological Surgery, Children’s Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5Department of Neurological Surgery, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; and 6Department of Neurological Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Report of effective trametinib therapy in 2 children with progressive hypothalamic optic pathway pilocytic astrocytoma: documentation of volumetric response
Catherine Miller, MD1, Daniel Guillaume, MD1, Kathryn Dusenbery, MD2, H. Brent Clark, MD, PhD3, and Christopher Moertel, MD4Departments of 1Neurosurgery, 2Radiation Oncology, 3Pathology, and 4Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Long-term follow-up of superior gluteal artery perforator flap closure of large myelomeningoceles
Brett A. Whittemore, MD1, Dale M. Swift, MD2, Bradley E. Weprin, MD2, and Frederick J. Duffy Jr., MD3Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Pediatric Neurosurgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; and 3Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical City Hospital, Dallas, Texas
Solitary fibrous tumors of the spine: a pediatric case report with a comprehensive review of the literature
Gregory W. Albert, MD1,2, and Murat Gokden, MD3 1Division of Neurosurgery, Arkansas Children’s Hospital; and Departments of 2Neurosurgery and 3Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
Clinical and surgical management of a congenital Type II split cord malformation presenting with progressive cranial neuropathies: case report
Patrick R. Maloney, MD1, Meghan E. Murphy, MD1, Molly J. Sullan, MS2, Kathryn M. Van Abel, MD2, Shelagh A. Cofer, MD2, John C. Cheville, MD3, and Nicholas M. Wetjen, MD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery, 2Otolaryngology, and 3Pathology, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota
Interdural cavernous sinus dermoid cyst in a child: case report
Flavio Giordano, MD1, Giacomo Peri, MD1, Giacomo M. Bacci, MD, PhD2, Massimo Basile, MD3, Azzurra Guerra, MD4, Patrizia Bergonzini, MD4, Anna Maria Buccoliero, MD5, Barbara Spacca, MD1, Lorenzo Iughetti, MD, PhD4, PierArturo Donati, MD1, and Lorenzo Genitori, MD1 1Department of Neurosurgery, 2Neuro-ophthalmology Unit, 3Radiology Unit, and 5Pathology Unit, Anna Meyer Hospital, Firenze; and 4Department of Pediatrics, Ospedale Policlinico, University of Modena, Italy
Perioperative outcomes for pediatric neurosurgical procedures: analysis of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program–Pediatrics
Benjamin J. Kuo, BS1,2,3, Joao Ricardo N. Vissoci, PhD1,2, Joseph R. Egger, PhD2, Emily R. Smith, PhD1,2, Gerald A. Grant, MD6, Michael M. Haglund, MD, PhD1,2,4, and Henry E. Rice, MD2,5 1Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neuroscience and 2Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; 3Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Departments of 4Neurosurgery and 5Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; and 6Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California
María José Mayorga-Buiza, MD, PhD, Mónica Rivero-Garvía, MD, PhD, Javier Márquez-Rivas, MD, PhD, Carlos Velásquez-Rodríguez, MD, and Emilio Gómez-González, PhDHospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Seville, Spain; Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital, Santander, Spain; and Seville University, Engineering School, Seville, Spain
Letter to the Editor: Early seizure prophylaxis in pediatric severe traumatic brain injury: still a long way to go
Eduardo Mekitarian Filho, MD, MSc, PhDUniversity of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Pages 374-375
Response
Monica S. Vavilala, MD, Qian Qiu, MBA, Paige J. Ostahowski, BA, Nithya Kannan, MD, Douglas F. Zatzick, MD, Richard G. Ellenbogen, MD, Linda Ng Boyle, PhD, Pamela H. Mitchell, PhD, Mark S. Wainwright, MD, PhD, Richard B. Mink, MD, MACM, Jonathan I. Groner, MD, Michael J. Bell, MD, and Christopher C. Giza, MD
Miguel Gelabert-González, PhD, Eduardo Arán-Echabe, MD, and José María Santín-Amo, MDUniversity of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Pages 375-376
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Joseph Lopez, MD, MBA, Alan Utria, MD, Regina S. Cho, BS, Gerhard S. Mundinger, MD, Craig Vander Kolk, MD, George I. Jallo, MD, Edward S. Ahn, MD, and Amir Dorafshar, MBChB
A novel technique to correct kyphosis in cervical myelopathy due to continuous-type ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament
We aimed in this study to establish a new technique for the treatment of patients with cervical myelopathy that results from multilevel OPLL and kyphosis. Read More
Contralateral osteotomy of the pedicle and posterolateral elements for en bloc resection: a technique for oncological resection of posterolateral spinal tumors
Viren S. Vasudeva, MD1, Alexander E. Ropper, MD2, Samuel Rodriguez, MD3, Kyle C. Wu, MD1, and John H. Chi, MD, MPH1,4 1Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; 2Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; 3Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; and 4Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Spine stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of multiple myeloma
Jacob A. Miller, BS1, Ehsan H. Balagamwala, MD2, Samuel T. Chao, MD2,3, Todd Emch, MD4, John H. Suh, MD2,3, Toufik Djemil, PhD5, and Lilyana Angelov, MD3,6 1Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, 2Department of Radiation Oncology, 3Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, 4Department of Diagnostic Radiology, and 6Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; and 5Department of Radiation Oncology, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, Florida
Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of the spine: results of surgical management from a multicenter study
Dean Chou, MD1, Mark H. Bilsky, MD2, Alessandro Luzzati, MD3, Charles G. Fisher, MD, MHSc4, Ziya L. Gokaslan, MD5, Laurence D. Rhines, MD6, Mark B. Dekutoski, MD7, Michael G. Fehlings, MD8, Ravi Ghag, MD4, Peter Varga, MD9, Stefano Boriani, MD10, Niccole M. Germscheid, MSc11, Jeremy J. Reynolds, MBChB12, and the AOSpine Knowledge Forum Tumor 1Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco, California; 2Department of Neurosurgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; 3Department of Orthopedics, Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy; 4Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; 5Department of Neurosurgery, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; 6Department of Neurosurgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; 7Department of Orthopedics, The CORE Institute, Phoenix, Arizona; 8Department of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 9Department of Orthopedics, National Center for Spinal Disorders, Budapest, Hungary; 10Department of Orthopedics, The Rizzoli Institute, Bologna, Italy; 11AOSpine International, Davos, Switzerland; and 12Department of Orthopaedics, Oxford University Hospitals, Oxford, United Kingdom
Consensus guidelines for postoperative stereotactic body radiation therapy for spinal metastases: results of an international survey
Kristin J. Redmond, MD, MPH1, Simon S. Lo, MD2, Scott G. Soltys, MD3, Yoshiya Yamada, MD4, Igor J. Barani, MD5, Paul D. Brown, MD6, Eric L. Chang, MD7, Peter C. Gerszten, MD8, Samuel T. Chao, MD9, Robert J. Amdur, MD10, Antonio A. F. De Salles, MD, PhD11, Matthias Guckenberger, MD12, Bin S. Teh, MD13, Jason Sheehan, MD, PhD14, Charles R. Kersh, MD15, Michael G. Fehlings, MD, PhD, FRCSC16, Moon-Jun Sohn, MD, PhD17, Ung-Kyu Chang, MD18, Samuel Ryu, MD19, Iris C. Gibbs, MD3, and Arjun Sahgal, MD, FRCPC20 1Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, The John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; 2Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center; 9Department of Radiation Oncology, Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neurooncology Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; 3Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University, Stanford; 5Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco; 7Department of Radiation Oncology, Norris Cancer Center and Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California; 11Department of Neurological Surgery, Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California; 4Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York; 19Department of Radiation Oncology, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook, New York; 6Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center; 13Department of Radiation Oncology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Cancer Center and Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, Houston, Texas; 8Department of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 10Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida; 12Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Zurich, Switzerland; 14Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville; 15Department of Radiation Oncology, Riverside Radiation Oncology Specialists, Newport News, Virginia; 16Division of Neurosurgery and Spine Program, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto; 20Department of Radiation Oncology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 17Department of Neurological Surgery, Radiosurgery Center, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Goyang; and 18Department of Neurosurgery, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul, South Korea
Bilateral C-1 lateral mass reconstruction following radical resection of a giant osteoblastoma of the atlas: case report
Iulia Peciu-Florianu, MD1, Gopalakrishnan Chittur Viswanathan, MCh1, Juan Barges-Coll, MD1, Gabriel A. Castillo-Velázquez, MD4, Pierre-Yves Zambelli, MD, PhD2,3, and John M. Duff, MD1,3 1Neurosurgical Service, Department of Clinical Neurosciences and 2Division of Paediatric Orthopedics, University Hospital of Lausanne; 3Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; and 4Neurosurgical Service, Centro Médico Puerta de Hierro, Guadalajara, Mexico
Radiofrequency ablation of spinal osteoid osteoma: a prospective study
Joe Faddoul, MD2, Yara Faddoul, MD1, Sandra Kobaiter-Maarrawi, PhD1, Ronald Moussa, MD2, Tony Rizk, MD2, Georges Nohra, MD2, Nabil Okais, MD2, Elie Samaha, MD2, and Joseph Maarrawi, MD, PhD1,2 1Laboratory of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine (PTS), St. Joseph University; and 2Department of Neurosurgery, Hôtel-Dieu de France Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
Successful treatment of mixed yolk sac tumor and mature teratoma in the spinal cord: case report
Akitake Mukasa, MD, PhD1,, Shunsuke Yanagisawa, MD1, Kuniaki Saito, MD1, Shota Tanaka, MD1, Keisuke Takai, MD, PhD1,5, Junji Shibahara, MD, PhD2, Masachika Ikegami, MD3, Yusuke Nakao, MD3,6, Katsushi Takeshita, MD, PhD3,7, Masao Matsutani, MD, PhD4, and Nobuhito Saito, MD, PhD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery, 2Pathology, and 3Orthopaedic Surgery and Spinal Surgery, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo; and 4Department of Neuro-Oncology/Neurosurgery, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Hidaka, Japan
A novel technique to correct kyphosis in cervical myelopathy due to continuous-type ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament
Dong-Ho Lee, MD, PhD, Youn-Suk Joo, MD, Chang Ju Hwang, MD, PhD, Choon Sung Lee, MD, PhD, and Jae Hwan Cho, MDDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Revisiting the differences between irreducible and reducible atlantoaxial dislocation in the era of direct posterior approach and C1–2 joint manipulation
Arsikere N. Deepak, MS1, Pravin Salunke, MCh1, Sushanta K. Sahoo, MCh1, Prashant K. Prasad, MS1, and Niranjan K. Khandelwal, MD2Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Radiodiagnosis, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
C-2 arteriovenous fistula presenting as a pathologic hangman’s fracture: case report
Rajeev D. Sen, BA, Carolina Gesteira Benjamin, MD, Howard A. Riina, MD, and Donato Pacione, MDNew York University School of Medicine, New York, New York
Lateral mass screw stimulation thresholds in posterior cervical instrumentation surgery: a predictor of medial deviation
Bayard Wilson, BA1,, Erik Curtis, MD2, Brian Hirshman, MD, MS2, Ahmet Oygar, MD2, Karen Chen, MD3, Brandon C. Gabel, MD2, Florin Vaida, PhD4, David W. Allison, PhD5, and Joseph D. Ciacci, MD2 1School of Medicine, 2Department of Neurosurgery, 3Department of Radiology, 4Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, Division of Biostatistics and Bio-informatics, and 5Department of Interventional Neurophysiology, University of California, San Diego, California
Lumbar decompression in the elderly: increased age as a risk factor for complications and nonhome discharge
Meghan E. Murphy, MD1,2, Hannah Gilder, BS1,2, Patrick R. Maloney, MD1,2, Brandon A. McCutcheon, MD, MPP1,2, Lorenzo Rinaldo, MD, PhD1,2, Daniel Shepherd, MD1,2, Panagiotis Kerezoudis, MD1,2, Daniel S. Ubl, MPH3, Cynthia S. Crowson, MS3, William E. Krauss, MD1, Elizabeth B. Habermann, PhD, MPH3, and Mohamad Bydon, MD1,2 1Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic; 2Mayo Clinic Neuro-Informatics Laboratory; and 3Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Multiple-hook fixation in revision spinal deformity surgery for patients with a previous multilevel fusion mass: technical note and preliminary outcomes
Ning Liu, MD1,3, and Kirkham B. Wood, MD1,2 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Spine Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; 2Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Redwood City, California; and 3Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School, St. Louis, Missouri
Diagnostic accuracy of motor evoked potentials to detect neurological deficit during idiopathic scoliosis correction: a systematic review
Parthasarathy D. Thirumala, MD1,3, Donald J. Crammond, PhD1, Yoon K. Loke, MBBS4, Hannah L. Cheng1, Jessie Huang1, and Jeffrey R. Balzer, PhD1,2Departments of 1Neurological Surgery and 2Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh; 3Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and 4Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
Spinal cord herniation repair with microstaples: case report
Pedro David Delgado-López, MD1, Cecilia Gil-Polo, MD, PhD1, Vicente Martín-Velasco, MD1, Javier Martín-Alonso, MD1, Ana María Galacho-Harriero, MD1, and Elena Araus-Galdós, MD2Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Neurophysiology, Hospital Universitario de Burgos, Spain
Bone marrow stromal cell sheets may promote axonal regeneration and functional recovery with suppression of glial scar formation after spinal cord transection injury in rats
Akinori Okuda, MD1,2, Noriko Horii-Hayashi, PhD2, Takayo Sasagawa, MS2, Takamasa Shimizu, MD, PhD1, Hideki Shigematsu, MD, PhD1, Eiichiro Iwata, MD, PhD1, Yasuhiko Morimoto, MD1, Keisuke Masuda, MD1, Munehisa Koizumi, MD, PhD3, Manabu Akahane, MD, PhD4, Mayumi Nishi, MD, PhD2, and Yasuhito Tanaka, MD, PhD1 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nara Medical University, Kashihara; 2Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Nara Medical University, Kashihara; 3Spine and Spinal Cord Surgery Center, Nara Prefecture General Medical Center; and 4Department of Public Health, Health Management, and Policy, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan
Promotion of astrocytoma cell invasion by micro RNA–22 targeting of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase–2
Yu-ichiro Ohnishi, MD, PhD1, Koichi Iwatsuki, MD, PhD1, Masahiro Ishihara, MD, PhD1, Toshika Ohkawa, MD, PhD2, Manabu Kinoshita, MD, PhD3, Koei Shinzawa, PhD4, Yasunori Fujimoto, MD, PhD1, and Toshiki Yoshimine, MD, PhD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 4Molecular Genetics, Osaka University Medical School; 2Department of Neurosurgery, Yao Municipal Hospital; and 3Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, Japan
Erratum: Screening via CT angiogram after traumatic cervical spine fractures: narrowing imaging to improve cost effectiveness. Experience of a Level I trauma center
Gabriel A. Smith, MDCase Western Reserve University School of Medicine, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
Comparison of clipping and coiling in elderly patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms
Since the publication of the International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial, which focused on ruptured aneurysms, there has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms with an increased focus on coiling as the preferred intervention for patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Read More
Foramen magnum meningiomas: surgical results and risks predicting poor outcomes based on a modified classification
Da Li, MD1,2,3,4,, Zhen Wu, MD, PhD1,2,3,4, Cong Ren, MD1,2,3,4, Shu-Yu Hao, MD, PhD1, Liang Wang, MD, PhD1, Xin-Ru Xiao, MD, PhD1, Jie Tang, MD, PhD1, Yong-Gang Wang, MD, PhD1, Guo-Lu Meng, MD, PhD1, Li-Wei Zhang, MD, PhD1,2,3,4, and Jun-Ting Zhang, MD1,2,3,4 1Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases; 3Center of Brain Tumor, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders; and 4Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Tumor, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Body habitus, serum albumin, and the outcomes after craniotomy for tumor: a National Surgical Quality Improvement Program analysis
Hormuzdiyar H. Dasenbrock, MD1,2, Kevin X. Liu, DPhil2, Vamsidhar Chavakula, MD1,2, Christopher A. Devine, MPhil2, William B. Gormley, MD, MPH1,2, Elizabeth B. Claus, PhD, MD1,2,3, Timothy R. Smith, MD, PhD, MPH1,2, and Ian F. Dunn, MD1,2 1Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and 3School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Preoperative diagnosis of vagal and sympathetic cervical schwannomas based on radiographic findings
Christopher S. Graffeo, MD1, Kathryn M. Van Abel, MD2, Jonathan M. Morris, MD3, Matthew L. Carlson, MD2, Jamie J. Van Gompel, MD1, Eric J. Moore, MD2, Daniel L. Price, MD2, Jan L. Kasperbauer, MD2, Jeffrey R. Janus, MD2, Kerry D. Olsen, MD2, and Michael J. Link, MD1Departments of 1Neurologic Surgery, 2Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and 3Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Functional approach using intraoperative brain mapping and neurophysiological monitoring for the surgical treatment of brain metastases in the central region
Jose L. Sanmillan, MD1, Alejandro Fernández-Coello, MD1, Isabel Fernández-Conejero, MD2, Gerard Plans, MD1, and Andreu Gabarrós, MD, PhD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Neurophysiology, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain
Quality of life is maintained using Gamma Knife radiosurgery: a prospective study of a brain metastases patient cohort
Bente Sandvei Skeie, MD, PhD1,2, Geir Egil Eide, PhD5,6, Marianne Flatebø1, Jan Ingeman Heggdal, MSc4, Elisabeth Larsen1, Sidsel Bragstad, MSc1, Paal-Henning Pedersen, MD, PhD1,2, and Per Øyvind Enger, MD, PhD1,3Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 4Oncology and Medical Physics, and 6Centre for Clinical Research, Haukeland University Hospital; and Departments of 2Clinical Medicine, 3Biomedicine, Oncomatrix Research Lab, and 5Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Norway
BRAF V600E mutation and BRAF kinase inhibitors in conjunction with stereotactic radiosurgery for intracranial melanoma metastases
Zhiyuan Xu, MD1, Cheng-Chia Lee, MD1,3,4, Arjun Ramesh, MD1, Adam C. Mueller, MD, PhD2, David Schlesinger, PhD1,2, Or Cohen-Inbar, MD, PhD1, Han-Hsun Shih, MD5, and Jason P. Sheehan, MD, PhD1,2Departments of 1Neurological Surgery and 2Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital; 4School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei; and 5Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China
Impact of the radiosurgery prescription dose on the local control of small (2 cm or smaller) brain metastases
Alireza M. Mohammadi, MD1,2, Jason L. Schroeder, MD5, Lilyana Angelov, MD1,2, Samuel T. Chao, MD3, Erin S. Murphy, MD3, Jennifer S. Yu, MD, PhD3, Gennady Neyman, PhD3, Xuefei Jia, MS4, John H. Suh, MD3, Gene H. Barnett, MD1,2, and Michael A. Vogelbaum, MD, PhD1,2 1The Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, Departments of 2Neurosurgery and 3Radiation Oncology, and 4Quantitative Health Science, Neurological Institute and Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland; and 5Department of Neurosurgery, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio
Stereotactic radiosurgery for intracranial hemangiopericytomas: a multicenter study
Or Cohen-Inbar, MD, PhD1, Cheng-Chia Lee, MD2, Seyed H. Mousavi, MD3, Hideyuki Kano, MD, PhD3, David Mathieu, MD4, Antonio Meola, MD3, Peter Nakaji, MD5, Norissa Honea, PhD5, Matthew Johnson, MD6, Mahmoud Abbassy, MD7, Alireza M. Mohammadi, MD7, Danilo Silva, MD7, Huai-Che Yang, MD2, Inga Grills, MD6, Douglas Kondziolka, MD, MSc8, Gene H. Barnett, MD8, L. Dade Lunsford, MD3, and Jason Sheehan, MD, PhD1 1Department of Neurosurgery and Gamma Knife Center, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia; 3Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 5Department of Neurosurgery, Barrow Neurological Institute and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona; 6Department of Radiation Oncology, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Royal Oak, Michigan; 7Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; 8Department of Neurosurgery, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York; 2Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, and National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; and 4Department of Neurosurgery, University of Sherbrooke, Centre de Recherche Clinique Étienne-LeBel, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Factors predicting contralateral hematoma growth after unilateral drainage of bilateral chronic subdural hematoma
Shigeta Fujitani, MD1, Osamu Ishikawa, MD, PhD2, Keisuke Miura, MD1, Yasuhiro Takeda, MD1, Haruo Goto, MD1, and Keiichiro Maeda, MD, PhD1 1Department of Neurosurgery, Aizu Chuo Hospital, Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima; and 2Department of Neurosurgery, Showa General Hospital, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan
Impact of Glasgow Coma Scale score and pupil parameters on mortality rate and outcome in pediatric and adult severe traumatic brain injury: a retrospective, multicenter cohort study
Pedram Emami, MD1,, Patrick Czorlich, MD1, Friederike S. Fritzsche, MD1, Manfred Westphal, MD1, Johannes M. Rueger, MD2, Rolf Lefering, PhD3, and Michael Hoffmann, MD2Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Trauma, Hand, and Reconstructive Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg; and 3Institute for Research in Operative Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Cologne, Germany
Helmet efficacy against concussion and traumatic brain injury: a review
Je Yeong Sone1, Douglas Kondziolka, MD, MSc1, Jason H. Huang, MD2, and Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD3 1Department of Neurosurgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; 2Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor Scott & White Central Division, Temple, Texas; and 3Department of Neurosurgery, Hennepin County Medical Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Treatment of traumatic brain injury in rats with N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline
Yanlu Zhang, MD1, Zheng Gang Zhang, MD, PhD2, Michael Chopp, PhD2,3, Yuling Meng, PhD1, Li Zhang, MD2, Asim Mahmood, MD1, and Ye Xiong, MD, PhD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Neurology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit; and 3Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
Traumatic hemorrhagic brain injury: impact of location and resorption on cognitive outcome
Ryan M. Martin, MD1,2, Matthew J. Wright, PhD3, Evan S. Lutkenhoff, PhD4, Benjamin M. Ellingson, PhD, MS5, John D. Van Horn, PhD6, Meral Tubi, BA1, Jeffry R. Alger, PhD2, David L. McArthur, PhD, MPH1, and Paul M. Vespa, MD1,2Departments of 1Neurosurgery, 2Neurology, 3Pyschiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, 4Psychology, and 5Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles; and 6Department of Neurology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Medicare expenditures for elderly patients undergoing surgical clipping or endovascular intervention for subarachnoid hemorrhage
Kimon Bekelis, MD1,2, Daniel J. Gottlieb, MS2, Yin Su, MS2, Giuseppe Lanzino, MD3, Michael T. Lawton, MD4, and Todd A. MacKenzie, PhD2,5,6 1Section of Neurosurgery; 6Department of Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; 2The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Lebanon; 5Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; and 4Department of Neurosurgery, University of California San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, California
Comparison of clipping and coiling in elderly patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms
Kimon Bekelis, MD1, Daniel J. Gottlieb, MS2, Yin Su, PhD2, A. James O’Malley, PhD2,3, Nicos Labropoulos, PhD4, Philip Goodney, MD, MS5,6, Michael T. Lawton, MD7, and Todd A. MacKenzie, PhD2,3,8,9Sections of 1Neurosurgery and 5Vascular Surgery; Departments of 8Medicine and 9Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; 2The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Lebanon; 3Department of Biomedical Data Science, 6Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire; 4Department of Radiology, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, New York; and 7Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, California
A long-term study of durability and risk factors for aneurysm recurrence after microsurgical clip ligation
Mason A. Brown, BS1, Jonathan Parish, MD1, Cristian F. Guandique, BA1, Troy D. Payner, MD1, Terry Horner, MD1, Thomas Leipzig, MD1, Karishma V. Rupani, MBBCh1, Richard Kim, MD1, Bradley N. Bohnstedt, MD2, and Aaron A. Cohen-Gadol, MD, MSc1 1Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, and Department of Neurosurgery, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana; and 2Department of Neurosurgery, Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Educational and interactive informed consent process for treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms
Jaechan Park, MD, PhD1,2, Wonsoo Son, MD1,2, Ki-Su Park, MD1,2, Dong-Hun Kang, MD1,2, Joomi Lee, PhD3, Chang Wan Oh, MD, PhD4, O-Ki Kwon, MD, PhD4, Taesun Kim, MD, PhD5, and Chang-Hyun Kim, MD6 1Department of Neurosurgery, 2Research Center for Neurosurgical Robotic Systems, and 3Cell & Matrix Research Institute, Kyungpook National University, Daegu; 4Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul; 5Department of Neurosurgery, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju; and 6Department of Neurosurgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea
Use of a surgical rehearsal platform and improvement in aneurysm clipping measures: results of a prospective, randomized trial
A. Jessey Chugh, BS1, Jonathan R. Pace, MD2, Justin Singer, MD2, Curtis Tatsuoka, PhD3, Alan Hoffer, MD2, Warren R. Selman, MD2, and Nicholas C. Bambakidis, MD2 1Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine; and Departments of 2Neurological Surgery and 3Neurology, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Seizure outcomes after stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations
Benjamin J. Ditty, MD, Nidal B. Omar, MD, Paul M. Foreman, MD, Joseph H. Miller, MD, Kimberly P. Kicielinski, MD, Winfield S. Fisher III, MD, and Mark R. Harrigan, MDDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama
Comparative analysis of arteriovenous malformation grading scales in predicting outcomes after stereotactic radiosurgery
Bruce E. Pollock, MD1,2, Curtis B. Storlie, PhD3, Michael J. Link, MD1,4, Scott L. Stafford, MD2, Yolanda I. Garces, MD2, and Robert L. Foote, MD2Departments of 1Neurological Surgery, 2Radiation Oncology, 3Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, and 4Otorhinolaryngology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota
Stereotactic radiosurgery for Spetzler-Martin Grade III arteriovenous malformations: an international multicenter study
Dale Ding, MD1, Robert M. Starke, MD, MSc1, Hideyuki Kano, MD, PhD2, John Y. K. Lee, MD, MSCE3, David Mathieu, MD4, John Pierce, MS3, Paul P. Huang, MD5, Caleb Feliciano, MD6, Rafael Rodriguez-Mercado, MD6, Luis Almodovar, MD6, Inga S. Grills, MD7, Danilo Silva, MD8, Mahmoud Abbassy, MD8, Symeon Missios, MD8, Douglas Kondziolka, MD5, Gene H. Barnett, MD8, L. Dade Lunsford, MD2, and Jason P. Sheehan, MD, PhD1 1Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia; 2Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, and 3Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 4Division of Neurosurgery, University of Sherbrooke, Centre de recherché du CHUS, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada; 5Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York; 6Section of Neurological Surgery, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico; 7Beaumont Health System, Royal Oak, Michigan; and 8Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
Endoscopic endonasal control of the paraclival internal carotid artery by Fogarty balloon catheter inflation: an anatomical study
Andrea Ruggeri, MD1, Joaquim Enseñat, PhD2, Alberto Prats-Galino, PhD3, Antonio Lopez-Rueda, MD4, Joan Berenguer, PhD4, Martina Cappelletti, MD1, Matteo De Notaris, PhD5, and Elena d’Avella, MD3,6 1Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, University of Rome “Sapienza,” Rome, Italy; 2Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; 3Laboratory of Surgical NeuroAnatomy (LSNA), Human Anatomy and Embryology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; 4Department of Radiology, Hospital Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; 5Neurosurgical Department, “G. Rummo” Hospital of Benevento, Benevento, Italy; and 6Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, University of Padua, Italy
Endoscopic endonasal surgery for nonadenomatous, nonmeningeal pathology involving the cavernous sinus
Aikaterini Patrona, MD1, Kunal S. Patel, MD2, Evan D. Bander, BA2, Alpesh Mehta, MD4, Apostolos John Tsiouris, MD4, Vijay K. Anand, MD5, and Theodore H. Schwartz, MD2,3,4 1Department of Neurosurgery, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg, Ruppiner Kliniken, Neuruppin, Germany; and Departments of 2Neurosurgery, 3Neuroscience, 4Radiology, and 5Otolaryngology, Weill Cornell Medical College, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York
Primary versus revision transsphenoidal resection for nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas: matched cohort study
Colin J. Przybylowski, MD1, Robert F. Dallapiazza, MD, PhD1, Brian J. Williams, MD1, I. Jonathan Pomeraniec, BS1, Zhiyuan Xu, MD1, Spencer C. Payne, MD2, Edward R. Laws, MD3, and John A. Jane Jr., MD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia; and 3Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Antibiotic prophylaxis for subdural and subgaleal drains
Ariane Lewis, MD1,2, Rajeev Sen, BA3, Travis C. Hill, PhD2,3, Herbert James, BS3, Jessica Lin, MD1, Harpaul Bhamra, MD1, Nina Martirosyan, BS, PharmD4, and Donato Pacione, MD2Departments of 1Neurology and 2Neurosurgery; 3NYU School of Medicine; and 4Pharmacy, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York
Functional anatomy of the accessory nerve studied through intraoperative electrophysiological mapping
Andrei Brînzeu, MD, MSc1,2, and Marc Sindou, MD, DSc1,3 1Neurosurgical Department, Hospital Pierre Wertheimer, University of Lyon; 3University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, France; and 2University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes,” Timişoara, Romania
A systematic review of outcomes of contralateral C-7 transfer for the treatment of traumatic brachial plexus injury: an international comparison
Alexandra L. Mathews, BS1, Guang Yang, MD2, Kate Wan-Chu Chang, MA, MS3, and Kevin C. Chung, MD1 1Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Michigan Medical School; 3Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and 2Department of Hand Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
A new pattern of lipomatosis of nerve: case report
Nikhil K. Prasad, MBChB1, Mark A. Mahan, MD3, Benjamin M. Howe, MD2, Kimberly K. Amrami, MD2, and Robert J. Spinner, MD1Departments of 1Neurologic Surgery and 2Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; and 3Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Neurosciences Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Struthers’ ligament and traumatic median nerve injury: case illustration
Paule Lessard Bonaventure, MD, and Hélène T. Khuong, MDDepartment of Neurological Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, CHU de Québec–Université Laval, Québec, Canada
Contralateral supraorbital keyhole approach to medial optic nerve lesions: an anatomoclinical study
Harminder Singh, MD1,, Walid I. Essayed, MD2, Ajit Jada, MD2, Nelson Moussazadeh, MD2,3, Sivashanmugam Dhandapani, MD4, Sarang Rote, MCh2, and Theodore H. Schwartz, MD2 1Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Department of 2Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, NewYork-Presbyterian; 3Division of Neurological Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; and 4Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
The white matter tracts of the cerebrum in ventricular surgery and hydrocephalus
Abuzer Güngör, MD1, Serhat Baydin, MD1, Erik H. Middlebrooks, MD2,,3, Necmettin Tanriover, MD4, Cihan Isler, MD4, and Albert L. Rhoton Jr., MD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Radiology, and the 3K. Scott and E. R. Andrew Advanced Neuroimaging Lab, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; and 4Department of Neurosurgery, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
The angular course of the median nerve in the distal forearm and its anatomical importance in preventing nerve injury in a modern era of carpal tunnel release
Russell Payne, MD1, Zeinab Nasralah, MS2, Emily Sieg, MD1, Elias B. Rizk, MD, MSc1, Michael Glantz, MD1, and Kimberly Harbaugh, MD1Departments of 1Neurosurgery and 2Ophthalmology, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
A novel miniature robotic guidance device for stereotactic neurosurgical interventions: preliminary experience with the iSYS1 robot
Georgi Minchev, MD1, Gernot Kronreif, PhD2, Mauricio Martínez-Moreno, MD1, Christian Dorfer, MD1, Alexander Micko, MD1, Aygül Mert, MD1, Barbara Kiesel, MD1, Georg Widhalm, MD, PhD1, Engelbert Knosp, MD1, and Stefan Wolfsberger, MD1 1Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna; and 2Austrian Center of Medical Innovation and Technology, Wiener Neustadt, Austria
Novel technique of a multifunctional electrosurgical system for minimally invasive surgery
David Mittelstein, BS1, Jiahan Deng, MS2, Rachel Kohan, BS2, Mojdeh Sadeghi, MS2, Jean-Michel Maarek, PhD2, and Gabriel Zada, MD, MS1 1Department of Neurosurgery, Keck School of Medicine, and 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Avoiding pullout complications in external ventricular drains: technical note
Carlos Velásquez, MD1, Mónica Rivero-Garvía, MD, PhD2, Maria Jose Mayorga-Buiza, MD, PhD3, María de los Ángeles Cañizares-Méndez, MD4, Manuel E. Jiménez-Mejías, MD, PhD5, and Javier Márquez-Rivas, MD, PhD2 1Department of Neurological Surgery and Spine Unit, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla and Fundación Instituto de Investigación Marqués de Valdecilla (IDIVAL), Santander; 2Department of Neurosurgery, 3Department of Pediatric Anesthesia, and 5Infectious Disease Unit, Hospitales Universitarios Virgen del Rocio, Seville; and 4Department of Neurosurgery, Complejo Hospitalario de Toledo, Spain
Language pathway tracking: comparing nTMS-based DTI fiber tracking with a cubic ROIs-based protocol
Chiara Negwer, MD1,2, Nico Sollmann, MD1,2, Sebastian Ille, MD1,2, Theresa Hauck1,2, Stefanie Maurer1,2, Jan S. Kirschke, MD3, Florian Ringel, MD1, Bernhard Meyer, MD1, and Sandro M. Krieg, MD, MBA1,2 1Department of Neurosurgery, 2TUM-Neuroimaging Center, and 3Section of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Letter to the Editor: Endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery
Chih-Chang Chang, MD1,2, Yu-Shu Yen, MD1,2, Tsung-Hsi Tu, MD1,2,3, Li-Yu Fay, MD1,2, Wen-Cheng Huang, MD, PhD1,2, and Jau-Ching Wu, MD, PhD1,2 1Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 2School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan; and 3Taiwan International Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, National Yang-Ming University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Letter to the Editor: Role of mutational status of GNAQ and GNA11 in the diagnosis of melanocytic tumors
Yislenz Narváez-Martínez, MD, MPH, Marc Sagristà-Garcia, MD, and Maria Teresa Fernandez-Figueras, MD, PhDUniversitary Hospital of Girona Dr. Josep Trueta, Girona, Catalonia, Spain; Sant Jaume of Calella Hospital, Calella, Catalonia, Spain; and Universitary Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
Pages 1024-1026
Response
Klaus G. Griewank, MD, Christian Koelsche, MD, Frederik Wenz, MD, Frank A. Giordano, MD, andChristoffer Gebhardt, MD
Ambuj Kumar, MS, Amandeep Kumar, MCh, Pankaj Kumar Singh, MCh, Shashwat Mishra, MCh, Kanwaljeet Garg, MCh, and Bhawani S. Sharma, MChAll India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
