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Biomedical subjects

J Goffin

Publications and source records attributed to J Goffin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[11C]methionine PET, histopathology, and survival in primary brain tumors and recurrence.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: [(11)C]Methionine (MET) PET imaging is a sensitive technique for visualizing primary brain tumors and recurrence/progression after therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the uptake of MET and histopathologic grading and to investigate the prognostic value of the tracer, in both settings. METHODS: Cerebral uptake of MET was determined in 52 patients: in 26 patients for primary staging (group A) and 26 patients with suspected brain tumor recurrence/progression after therapy (group B). Semiquantitative methionine uptake indices (UI) defined by the tumor (maximum)-to-background ratio was correlated with tumor grade and final outcome. RESULTS: Overall median survival was 34.9 months. MET showed pathologically increased uptake in 41 of 52 scans. Although a weak linear correlation between MET uptake and grading was observed (R = 0.38, P = .028), analysis of variance showed no significant differences in MET UI between tumor grades for either group A or B. Benign and grade I lesions showed significant difference in MET uptake in comparison with higher grade lesions (P = .006). Using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, no thresholds could be found at which MET was predictive for survival. Proportional hazard regression showed that only WHO grading class (low versus high) was predictive of survival (P = .015). CONCLUSION: Interindividual MET uptake variability does not allow noninvasive grading on an individual patient basis. Moreover, there is no significant prognostic value in studying maximal methionine UI in brain tumors. The clinical use of MET should therefore be primarily focused on questions such as detection of recurrence, biopsy guidance, and radiation therapy target volume delineation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Jugular foramen schwannoma: surgical experience in six cases.

PURPOSE: Schwannomas of the lower cranial nerves are rare tumours. We have surgical experience in six patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have retrospectively reviewed the files of the six patients with jugular foramen schwannomas that were treated in multidisciplinary collaboration in the departments of neurosurgery and ENT. RESULTS: From a clinical point of view, the most important finding was that these tumours usually mimic a vestibular schwannoma. The imaging findings however always allowed the differentiation. The surgical technique included in all cases a suboccipital approach for the intracranial part. When large, the extracranial extension had to be removed through a lateral cervical or transfacial approach. There was no mortality and minor morbidity, with good functional outcome. In subtotally removed tumours, recurrence occurred. CONCLUSION: A combined neurosurgical and ENT approach allows for safe removal of these often large skull base tumours.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

DNA methyltransferase inhibitors-state of the art.

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is the addition of a methyl group to the 5 position of cytosine. It is an epigenetic process with several effects, including chromatin structure modulation, transcriptional repression and the suppression of transposable elements. In malignancy, methylation patterns change, resulting in global hypomethylation with regional hypermethylation. This can lead to genetic instability and the repression of tumor suppressor genes. DESIGN: A review of the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor literature was conducted. RESULTS: DNA methylation inhibitors have demonstrated the ability to inhibit hypermethylation, restore suppressor gene expression and exert antitumor effects in in vitro and in vivo laboratory models. Four inhibitors, which are analogs of the nucleoside deoxycitidine, have been clinically tested: 5-azacytidine, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-azacytosine and dihydro-5-azacytidine. The first two have demonstrated encouraging antileukemic activity but little activity in solid tumors, while the latter two are no longer under study due to lack of efficacy. A fifth agent, MG98, is an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide directed against the 3' untranslated region of the DNA methyltransferase-1 enzyme mRNA, and is now under phase II study. CONCLUSIONS: While some positive clinical results with DNA methyltransferase inhibitors have been seen, a definitive clinical role for these agents will most likely require combination therapy, and good phase III studies are needed.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Three-dimensional computed tomography-based, personalized drill guide for posterior cervical stabilization at C1-C2.

STUDY DESIGN: Cadaver and preliminary clinical study. OBJECTIVES: To enhance the precision of screw positions for posterior transarticular fixations according to Magerl at C1-C2. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The vertebral arteries are at risk during the Magerl operation and may be damaged in up to 4.1% of cases. Even intraoperative navigation, as often used nowadays, does not provide optimal screw positioning in all patients. METHODS: According to the three-dimensional CT data obtained for every individual cadaver or patient, a template was designed for the posterior course of C2: the template contains a drill guide allowing navigated screw positioning inside the left and right isthmus of C2. For a first series of five cadavers a template with clamps connecting only to the lamina of C2, excluding the spinous process from the interface, was carried out. For a second series of three cadavers the template was connected not only to the lamina but also to the spinous process of C2. Both cadaver series were performed without any fluoroscopic control at surgery. Eventually the technology was applied in two clinical cases. RESULTS: The rotational stability of the template toward the lamina C2 was insufficient in the first series, but for the second series both the entry points and screw trajectories were very satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: Although the actual experience is limited, the idea of using a template with drill guide might simplify and shorten the surgical act and at the same time enhance the accuracy of C1-C2 transarticular screw positioning.

Bone Screws↗
PubMed2001

Spontaneous regression of an intraspinal disc cyst.

We present a patient with a so-called disc cyst. Its location in the ventrolateral epidural space and its communication with the herniated disc are clearly shown. The disc cyst developed rapidly and regressed spontaneously. This observation, which has not been reported until now, appears to support focal degeneration with cyst formation as the pathogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Lhermitte-Duclos disease is a clinical manifestation of Cowden's syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Lhermitte-Duclos disease (LDD) is a hamartomatous overgrowth of cerebellar ganglion cells, which replace granular cells and Purkinje cells. In recent years several cases involving the association between LDD and Cowden's syndrome (CS), an autosomal dominant condition characterized by multiple hamartomas and neoplastic lesions in skin and internal organs, have been reported. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records and imaging studies of six patients with LDD who were treated at our institution, and we looked at other possible symptoms of CS. RESULTS: Other clinical findings suggestive of CS were apparent in five patients: These included mucocutaneous lesions, acral keratosis, thyroid adenoma, fibrocystic disease, ovarian cyst, intestinal polyposis, and arteriovenous malformation. Only in the youngest patient, a 5-year-old boy, were no cutaneous or other signs found, despite extensive clinical and ultrasound examination. CONCLUSION: Our observations strengthen the hypothesis that LDD is a neurological manifestation of CS. Patients with LDD should receive a thorough dermatological and systemic screening, because some of the lesions (breast, etc...) can develop into malignant tumors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Posterior fossa decompression in syringomyelia associated with a Chiari malformation: a retrospective analysis of 22 patients.

BACKGROUND: The technique of posterior fossa decompression, nowadays preferred by most neurosurgeons as the first surgical option in the treatment of hindbrain associated syringomyelia, was reintroduced in our center in 1989. We present a retrospective analysis of 22 patients with this pathology who underwent the procedure since then. METHODS: In all patients diagnosis was made by MRI of the craniospinal junction. The operation consisted of a suboccipital craniectomy, removal of the posterior arc of C1, laminectomy of C2 or C3 when necessary and a wide duraplasty at the end. The intradural manipulations (opening of the arachnoid membrane, coagulation or resection of the tonsils) were not uniform. Postoperatively short- and long-term clinical outcome and MRI findings were assessed. RESULTS: Sixteen out of 21 patients (76%) experienced an improvement in the early follow-up period. In the late follow-up period 13 out of 19 patients (68%) were improved, whereas five patients (26%) experienced a marked deterioration. There was no unequivocal effect on all symptoms and signs. Postoperative MR images showed a favorable result in 16 out of 20 patients (80%), consisting of syrinx collapse or reduction of the syrinx diameter. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that decompression of the posterior fossa is a safe procedure with a considerable chance of clinical improvement. Although total syrinx collapse is not as frequently seen as in syrinx shunting procedures, the clinical outcome may be better. Moreover, there seemed to be no unequivocal correlation between clinical outcome and postoperative syrinx size in the present study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

A critical appraisal of the reporting of the National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Studies (II and III) of methylprednisolone in acute spinal cord injury.

From the beginning, the reporting of the results of National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Studies (NASCIS) II and III has been incomplete, leaving clinicians in the spinal cord injury (SCI) community to use or avoid using methylprednisolone in acute SCI on the basis of faith rather than a publicly developed scientific consensus. NASCIS II was initially reported by National Institutes of Health announcements, National Institutes of Health facsimiles to emergency room physicians, and the news media. The subsequent report in the New England Journal of Medicine implied that there was a positive result in the primary efficacy analysis for the entire 487 patient sample. However, this analysis was in fact negative, and the positive result was found only in a secondary analysis of the subgroup of patients who received treatment within 8 hours. In addition, that subgroup apparently had only 62 patients taking methylprednisolone and 67 receiving placebo. The NASCIS II and III reports embody specific choices of statistical methods that have strongly shaped the reporting of results but have not been adequately challenged or or even explained. These studies show statistical artifacts that call their results into question. In NASCIS II, the placebo group treated before 8 hours did poorly, not only when compared with the methylprednisolone group treated before 8 hours but even when compared with the placebo group treated after 8 hours. Thus, the positive result may have been caused by a weakness in the control group rather than any strength of methylprednisolone. In NASCIS III, a randomization imbalance occurred that allocated a disproportionate number of patients with no motor deficit (and therefore no chance for recovery) to the lower dose control group. When this imbalance is controlled for, much of the superiority of the higher dose group seems to disappear. The NASCIS group's decision to admit persons with minor SCIs with minimal or no motor deficit not only enables statistical artifacts it complicates the interpretation of results from the population actually sampled. Perhaps one half of the NASCIS III sample may have had at most a minor deficit. Thus, we do not know whether the results of these studies reflect the severely injured population to which they have been applied. The numbers, tables, and figures in the published reports are scant and are inconsistently defined, making it impossible even for professional statisticians to duplicate the analyses, to guess the effect of changes in assumptions, or to supply the missing parts of the picture. Nonetheless, even 9 years after NASCIS II, the primary data have not been made public. The reporting of the NASCIS studies has fallen far short of the guidelines of the ICH/FDA and of the Evidence-based Medicine Group. Despite the lucrative "off label" markets for methylprednisolone in SCI, no Food and Drug Association indication has been obtained. There has been no public process of validation. These shortcomings have denied physicians the chance to use confidently a drug that many were enthusiastic about and has left them in an intolerably ambiguous position in their therapeutic choices, in their legal exposure, and in their ability to perform further research to help their patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Endovascular treatment of a ruptured paraclinoid aneurysm of the carotid syphon achieved using endovascular stent and endosaccular coil placement.

We herein report a case of a ruptured superior hypophyseal aneurysm of the left supraclinoid carotid artery that could not be treated with a Guglielmi detachable coil (GDC), even in combination with a supporting nondetachable balloon. After an unsuccessful attempt at surgical clipping, treatment consisted of the placement of a stent over the neck of the aneurysm, advancement of a microcatheter through the stent mesh, and endosaccular embolization with a GDC. The late clinical outcome was excellent.

Aneurysm↗
PubMed2000

[Thoracic myelopathy revealing a chronic ossificans arachnoiditis of the thoraco-lumbar spinal cord].

We report a case of chronic spinal, ossificans, thoraco-lumbar arachnoiditis, associated with an arachnoidal cyst at the level of TH7, and revealed by a rapidly progressive thoracic myelopathy. Two years ago, he had presented with a spinal intrathecal haemorrhage of unknown etiology. There was no evidence of spinal traumatism, arterial hypertension or coagulation disorder. The finding of several small cysts and angiomas in the liver of this patient lead us to suspect an associated spinal vascular malformation, not detected on the spinal magnetic resonance imaging. A partial neurologic improvement was observed after laminectomy and cysto-peritoneal derivation.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Spondyloptosis of the cervical spine in neurofibromatosis. A case report.

STUDY DESIGN: Case report and literature review. OBJECTIVES: To review the English literature pertaining to spondyloptosis of the cervical spine in patients with Von Recklinghausen's disease and to present as an illustrative example the case of a 41-year-old woman with a spondyloptotic kyphotic curve of the spine at C5-C7 of more than 110 degrees. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Involvement of the cervical spine in neurofibromatosis has only rarely been documented, although the spine is the part of the skeleton mostly affected in this hereditary disease. Only a few cases with a cervical kyphotic curve exceeding 90 degrees or with cervical spondyloptosis have been reported until now. METHODS: A literature and chart review was conducted. The patient was first treated conservatively, but over time, the spontaneous neck pain increased to an intolerable level and progressive neurologic deficits developed in the four limbs. For these reasons, surgical intervention was undertaken, according to suggestions from the literature. RESULTS: Postoperative imaging showed improved realignment of the cervical spine with a residual kyphos of 30 degrees. At later follow-up stable bony fusion was obtained in the lower cervical spine. CONCLUSIONS: A successful one-stage anterior and posterior correction and fusion-stabilization procedure was performed with extension from the occiput to T1.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma associated with thrombolysis and anticoagulation therapy: report of three cases.

Three patients with a spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma are presented, one of which is exceptional because it could be attributed to thrombolysis with alteplase. The other two were correlated with oral anticoagulant therapy. Our second case suggests that Morbus Kahler may be an underlying pathology in spinal extradural hematoma. In the third patient neither an obvious 'locus minoris resistentiae' nor a pathological coagulation test could be held responsible for the spontaneous bleeding. All three patients underwent laminectomy and evacuation of the hematoma. Although two of our cases are examples of complete recuperation after late operative intervention, early surgery is preferable. Permanent clinical attention together with a low threshold to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) leads to a quicker diagnosis of spinal epidural hematoma. We show that administration of gadolinium may facilitate correct preoperative localization of the hematoma because there may be contrast enhancement of the hematoma. Finally, the postoperative policy concerning thromboembolic prophylaxis is discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Clinical assessment of a novel antiadhesion barrier gel: prospective, randomized, multicenter, clinical trial of ADCON-L to inhibit postoperative peridural fibrosis and related symptoms after lumbar discectomy.

A prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled study of ADCON-L Anti-Adhesion Barrier Gel (a medical device by Gliatech Inc, Cleveland, OH) was conducted in 298 patients undergoing first-time lumbar discectomy to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ADCON-L in preventing postoperative peridural fibrosis and in improving patient clinical outcome. After lumbar discectomy, patients were randomized to receive either ADCON-L gel or nothing (control group) at the conclusion of the surgical procedure. Six months after surgery, peridural scar was evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging, and postoperative pain and straight-leg-raise angle were assessed. No statistically significant differences between the ADCON-L and control groups were observed in terms of adverse events or wound healing characteristics. ADCON-L gel was shown to be safe and to significantly inhibit peridural scar compared with the control group (P = 0.002). That peridural scarring was reduced with ADCON-L gel was further supported by direct visualization of scar tissue at reoperation in both groups. ADCON-L-treated patients had better clinical outcomes than did control patients. The incidence of activity-related pain was significantly reduced (P = 0.013), straight-leg-raise examination scores were significantly improved (P = 0.024 on the operative side and P = 0.015 on the nonoperative side), and ADCON-L reduced low back pain when it was most severe (P = 0.047) and at the end of the day (P = 0.044).

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The effect of helmets on the incidence and severity of head and cervical spine injuries in motorcycle and moped accident victims: a prospective analysis based on emergency department and trauma centre data.

The aim of this prospective study was to quantify the anatomic severity of head and cervical spine injuries in hospital admitted victims of motorcycle and moped accidents in relation to helmet use and controlled for non-head injuries (i.e. kinetic impact). Two hundred and twenty-three patients entered the study group, of which 152 were motorcyclists and 71 were moped riders. Our results reveal that helmets do prevent head injury in motorcycle and moped accidents, especially in those crashes involving relatively low kinetic energy transfers. Helmet use does not lead to an increase of the incidence or severity of cervical spine injury. As a result compulsory helmet laws should not be limited to motorcyclists but also focus on all moped riders and probably also bicyclists. This study illustrates that emergency departments can provide important epidemiological information for injury control purposes. However, the epidemiological use of emergency department data and hospital data in general requires cautiousness. Confounding is a common problem which should be dealt with during analysis.

Accidents, Traffic↗