Murió el neurocirujano Sixto Obrador Alcalde

El doctor Sixto Obrador Alcalde, pionero de la neurocirugía española, falleció , a los 66 años de edad, a consecuencia de un cáncer de páncreas. El doctor Obrador había sido ingresado el martes en el centro de especialidades médicas Ramón y Cajal, cuyo departamento de neurocirugía puso en funcionamiento, y fue asistido en todo momento por el doctor internista Manuel Serrano Ríos.
El doctor Obrador era partidario de una investigación coordinada para lo que pretendía contar con la colaboración directa de neurofisiólogos, neuropatólogos, neuroquímicos, neurólogos, psiquiatras, psicólogos y neuroanestesistas entre otros especialistas médicos.
El lema del neurocirujano fallecido era que todo enfermo del sistema nervioso debe tener en España una buena asistencia neurológica y neuroquirúrgica especializada. Pese a que el aproximadamente centenar de neurocirujanos españoles son discípulos suyos, el doctor Obrador había dicho: «Siempre es necesario tener presente en nuestra labor la humildad e insignificancia de la propia obra. Apenas representa un corto y efímero eslabón de contacto entre pasadas y futuras generaciones. Estamos obligados a crear en todo momento el clima y el ambiente adecuados para el desarrollo futuro de nuestras disciplinas. Por esta razón he consumido mucho tiempo en la enseñanza y divulgación para los médicos.»
Más sobre Sixto Obrador Alcalde

Tumors of the cerebellopontile angle; considerations on 10 cases

Cerebellopontine angle tumor

Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) lesions account for up to 10% of all intracranial tumors.

Types

The most common CPA lesions are vestibular schwannomas (70-80%), meningiomas (10-15%) and epidermoid cysts (5%). CPA tumors are estimated to be the secondary cause for up to 9.9% patients with trigeminal neuralgia.
see Vestibular schwannoma
Cerebellopontine angle meningioma
Cerebellar astrocytoma
Cerebellopontine angle epidermoid cyst
Glomus jugulare associated with the glossopharyngeal nerve
Metastases
Cerebellopontine angle atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor.
Case series
BENAIM J. [Tumors of the cerebellopontile angle; considerations on 10 cases]. Neurocirugia. 1949-1950;7:105-28. Undetermined Language. PubMed PMID: 14827057. 1)
1) BENAIM J. [Tumors of the cerebellopontile angle; considerations on 10 cases]. Neurocirugia. 1949-1950;7:105-28. Undetermined Language. PubMed PMID: 14827057.

First description of Parsonage-Turner Syndrome

The Parsonage Turner syndrome is named after Maurice Parsonage and John Turner and published in the Lancet by Parsonage and Turner .

The condition, subsequently coined Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, had been previously described in the literature as far back as 1897 with many similar clinical presentations of the syndrome reported prior to the extensive study of the syndrome by Parsonage and Turner.
Parsonage Turner syndrome is also known as acute brachial neuropathy and acute brachial radiculitis.
Other names used are Parsonage–Aldren–Turner syndrome, neuralgic amyotrophy, brachial neuritis, brachial plexus neuropathy, or brachial plexitis.

 
PARSONAGE MJ, TURNER JW. Neuralgic amyotrophy; the shoulder-girdle syndrome. Lancet. 1948 Jun 26;1(6513):973-8. PubMed PMID: 18866299.

Update: Primary motor cortex

www.utdallas.edu_tres_integ_mot2_2_08.jpgThe primary motor cortex in the posterior frontal lobe (Brodmann area 4) was first described by David Ferrier in 1874, who used electrical stimulation to map the cortical areas responsible for movement in monkeys 1).
Since these initial findings, the description of this area has evolved to include the concept of a somatotopic map, wherein different parts of the body are represented individually on the primary motor cortex, as observed by Penfield and Boldrey 2)
 
1) Ferrier D. Experiments on the brain of monkeys – No. I. Proc R Soc Lond. 1874;23:409–30.
2) Penfield W, Boldrey E. Somatic motor and sensory representations in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation. Brain. 1937;60:389–443

David Ferrier has died

Sir David Ferrier FRS (13 January 1843 – 19 March 1928) was a pioneering Scottish neurologist and psychologist.
The primary motor cortex in the posterior frontal lobe (Brodmann area 4) was first described by David Ferrier in 1874, who used electrical stimulation to map the cortical areas responsible for movement in monkeys 1).
1) Ferrier D. Experiments on the brain of monkeys – No. I. Proc R Soc Lond. 1874;23:409–30.

Taylor Haughton line

In 1900 Taylor and Haughton described a technique to define a line on the scalp directly above the central fissure 1)
1. Draw a Nasion-Inion line ( Nasion – Just below Glabella and Inion -External Occipital protruberance)
2. Divide the Nasion-Inion line in to 25%, 50% and 75%
3. Bregma is the point between the 25% and 50% points and Lambda is at 75% point
4. Sylvian fissure is drawn from the orbitotemporal angle (A point of depressin where eyebrow ends) to the 75% point on naso-inion line.
5. Draw a line perpendicular to the root of the zygoma starting at preauricular point
6. Central sulcus is drawn from 54% point on naso-inion line to the point where the sylvian line cuts the perpendicular line
1) Taylor EH,Haughton WS.Some recent researchers on the topography of the convolutions andfissures of thebrain.Trans R Acad Med Ireland 1900;18:511-522