Visualizing the dynamics of cerebral aneurysms with four-dimensional computed tomographic angiography.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Jun Sakuma.
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Our success rate of intraoperative monitoring of visual evoked potential (VEP) had been approximately 30% in the past. In order to improve recording rate of intraoperative VEP, we developed a new stimulating device using high power light emitting diodes. Electroretinogram was simultaneously recorded to understand whether flash stimulation reached the retina. In addition, total venous anesthesia with propofol was used to avoid the adverse effect of inhalation anesthesia. We report the results after introduction of these improvements. Intraoperative monitoring of VEP was attempted in 35 cases. We evaluated success rate of VEP recording, correlation between VEP findings and postoperative visual function, and reasons why recording was not successful. Stable and reproducible waveforms were obtained in 59 sides (84%). Two cases, whose VEP deteriorated intraoperatively, developed postoperative visual disturbance: In 11 sides (16%), stable waveforms were not obtained. There were two main causes. In 8 sides out of 11, the cause was attributed to pre-existing severe visual disturbance. In these 8 sides, VEP in the awake state was not recordable or was recordable, but with very low amplitudes under 1 microV. In the other 3 sides, the cause was attributed to movement of a stimulating device by reflecting the fronto-temporal scalp flap. In conclusion, the successful recording rate was increased to 84% from approximately 30%, after introduction of various trials. We need further improvement in recording intraoperative VEP to establish a reliable intraoperative monitoring method for VEP.
BACKGROUND: Melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy (MNTI) is a rare neoplasm that develops during the first year of life and grows rapidly. Early diagnosis and radical surgery are critical for a long-term cure. We report a rare case of MNTI in the skull and discuss the importance of the radical surgery and the long-term follow-up results. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a case of a 4-month-old girl with an MNTI in the skull who underwent the operation 11 years ago. The mass in the frontotemporosphenoid region grew rapidly after birth. The patient underwent a craniotomy. By referring to the histological findings of frozen section during surgery, a total excision of the tumor including its adjacent hypertrophic bone was performed. The patient has remained well without evidence of recurrence or neurological abnormality for 11 years. CONCLUSION: Radical surgery for MNTI provides complete cure. According to the literature including our case, there should be follow-up for at least 2 years after surgery. Especially in cases in which tumors recur, follow-up should be for longer periods because of the possibility of its malignant change.
OBJECT: The usefulness of motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring to detect blood flow insufficiency (BFI) in the cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) during MCA aneurysm surgery was investigated based on the correlation between MEP and somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) monitoring. METHODS: Fifty-three patients with MCA aneurysms underwent surgery accompanied by intraoperative MEP and SEP monitoring. There was no postoperative motor paresis in 43 patients in whom MEP and SEP results remained unchanged. In the other 10 patients, nine manifested transient MEP changes; in five of these, SEP changes did not occur. The transient MEP changes were thought to be attributable to BFI of the MCA cortical branches in two patients, the LSA in three, and either the MCA branches or the LSA in four patients. Of these nine patients, six did not present with postoperative motor paresis; transient motor paresis was recognized in the other three. In the 10th patient, MEP waves disappeared and did not recover. This patient's SEPs remained at 70% of the control level, and he developed severe hemiparesis. A postoperative computerized tomography scan revealed a new low-density area in the corona radiata and putamen. CONCLUSIONS: Blood flow insufficiency in both the LSA and MCA cortical branches that perfuse the corticospinal tract can be detected by intraoperative MEP monitoring. Somatosensory evoked potential monitoring is not reliable enough to detect BFI in the MCA branches and the LSAs.
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Although 3D-CT angiography provides valuable anatomic information regarding lesion and their surrounding vessels and bony structures, it cannot demonstrate lesions, arteries, and veins, separately. The separate demonstration of arterial-phase 3D-CT angiography (3D-CT arteriography) and venous-phase 3D-CT angiography (3D-CT venography) will facilitate the understanding of the vascular anatomy within lesions, thus, allowing improvement of diagnostic accuracy and potentially a safer surgical approach. We describe 3D-CT arteriography and 3D-CT venography by using a multidetector row helical CT.
Achievement of more than 100 mW of pure continuous-wave deep-ultraviolet radiation at 213 nm has been demonstrated in an efficient all-solid-state laser system that uses two Brewster-cut CsLiB6O10 (CLBO) crystals. The first crystal is used for 266-nm generation by external resonant doubling of 532-nm radiation from a frequency-doubled Nd:YVO4 laser. Subsequent sum-frequency mixing is performed in a second CLBO crystal placed in a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser cavity to mix the single-pass 266-nm output with circulating 1064-nm light.
A Brewster-cut CsLiB6O10 crystal is employed as an external resonant frequency doubler to generate cw deep-UV radiation at 266 nm. We have generated 5.0 W of usable cw output power, which is 6.1 W in the crystal, for an incident green power of 9.6 W, corresponding to an internal conversion efficiency of 61.8%. The power obtained is, to our knowledge, three times higher than previously reported for cw 266-nm generation.
BACKGROUND: The optimal management of poor-grade patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) remains controversial. We evaluated therapeutic outcomes to identify appropriate treatments for SAH patients admitted with a poor grade. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 136 patients admitted within 6 hours after SAH onset with a poor Hunt & Kosnik Grade (IV and V). RESULTS: Of 136 poor-grade patients, 20 with massive intracerebral or subdural hematoma underwent urgent hematoma evacuation and aneurysmal neck clipping. Seven of these achieved a favorable outcome (good recovery or moderate disability). Another 7 patients with prominent hydrocephalus or massive intraventricular hematoma underwent urgent continuous ventricular drainage. Of these, 4 manifested spontaneous grade improvement and underwent neck clipping; the other 3 died resulting from rebleeding. The remaining 109 patients whose poor grade was primarily because of SAH were observed without immediate surgery. In 43 patients of 109, the grade improved within 24 hours after hospitalization and within 38 hours in the other 4 patients. Aneurysmal neck clipping was performed in these 47 patients and a favorable outcome was achieved in 25 patients. The remaining 62 patients did not improve and the outcome was unfavorable. CONCLUSIONS: Poor-grade SAH patients should be treated according to the pathogenesis underlying their poor grade. Close monitoring for a grade change over the first 24 hours after hospitalization is mandatory in patients whose poor grade is primarily because of the SAH and helps to determine the appropriateness of surgery.
The authors report a case in which anterior choroidal artery (AChA) blood flow insufficiency due to aneurysm clip rotation was detected intraoperatively by motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring and ischemia was successfully avoided. The patient had an incidentally discovered aneurysm for which occlusion of its neck was performed through a standard frontotemporal craniotomy without changing the MEP amplitude. After it was confirmed that the surrounding arteries were not stenotic, the brain retractor on the frontal lobe was released; MEP amplitude subsequently decreased. Rotation of the clip toward the frontal base by repositioning of the frontal lobe caused the AChA stenosis at the origin of its branches. On reorienting the clip toward the frontal lobe, the AChA stenosis was released and MEP amplitude recovered. To prevent repeated clip rotation, a large amount of gelatin (Spongel) was inserted between the frontal base and the clip. The authors confirmed that clip rotation did not occur after repositioning of the frontal lobe. Motor evoked potential amplitude was maintained until dural closure. Postoperatively, the patient demonstrated no neurological deficit and there was no newly developed low-density area on computerized tomography scans.
OBJECT: The lack of a specified intraoperative method for monitoring anterior choroidal artery (AChA) blood flow insufficiency (BFI) led the authors to devise a method for checking the BFI in this artery during aneurysm surgery. To this end, the authors relied on the intraoperative motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by electrical stimulation of the hand motor cortex. METHODS: The study population consisted of 108 patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms who underwent surgery via a standard frontotemporal craniotomy. After the dura mater had been opened, a grid electrode strip with 16 small electrodes was inserted subdurally into the hand motor cortex from the edge of the craniotomy. To check BFI in the AChA, the hand motor cortex was stimulated at an intensity level between 10 and 18 mA. The MEPs were successfully recorded from the contralateral thenar muscles in all 108 patients. There was no postoperativemotor paresis in 88 patients in whom the MEPs remained unchanged during the performance of various surgical maneuvers. Among the other 20 patients, 19 manifested transient MEP changes, but 15 of those patients experienced no postoperative motor paresis. In four patients who exhibited transient MEP changes, either after aneurysm clipping or during temporary occlusion of the ICA and/or AChA, hemiparesis occurred postoperatively but disappeared within 24 hours. In one patient with an ICA-posterior communicating artery aneurysm, the MEP disappeared and did not reappear by the time of dural closure. Severe hemiplegia developed in this patient and a computerized tomography scan obtained postoperatively revealed a new low-density area in the internal capsule. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that the monitoring method that is introduced here is safe and reliable for detecting intraoperative BFI in the AChA.
OBJECTIVE: Lower cranial nerve palsy is one of the most critical complications after posterior fossa surgery. However, no established monitoring procedures exist for glossopharyngeal nerve function. Therefore, glossopharyngeal nerve evoked potentials after stimulation of the posterior part of the tongue in dogs was studied to analyze whether glossopharyngeal nerve compound action potentials and evoked potentials are useful in the intraoperative monitoring of patients undergoing brainstem and cerebellopontine angle surgery. METHODS: Glossopharyngeal nerve action potentials and cortical potentials were evoked by stimulating the posterior part of the tongue in mongrel dogs. The potentials were evoked by supramaximal constant current electrical stimuli delivered with bipolar stainless steel needle electrodes and recorded with silver ball electrodes. RESULTS: Compound nerve action potentials were recorded from the exposed intracranial portion of the glossopharyngeal nerve. The latency of the initial negative peak of the action potentials was 2.8 +/- 0.6 milliseconds (mean +/- standard deviation; n = 17). Evoked cortical potentials were recorded on the coronal gyrus by stimulating the contralateral side. The latencies of the initial positive peak and negative peak were 20.1 +/- 3.7 and 35.7 +/- 8.2 milliseconds, respectively (n = 6). Ipsilateral tongue stimulation elicited biphasic evoked potentials on the coronal gyrus, which had small amplitudes and delayed latencies. Both compound nerve action potentials and cortical evoked potentials disappeared after sectioning of the glossopharyngeal nerve. CONCLUSION: The glossopharyngeal nerve action potentials and cortical potentials elicited by the stimulation of the posterior one-third of the tongue can be recorded. These evoked potentials represent a new means for intraoperative monitoring of patients undergoing surgery in the brainstem via the cerebellopontine angle, which involves the lower cranial nerves.
The object of this study is to assess whether aneurysm surgery can be performed in patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms by using three-dimensional computerized tomography angiography (3D-CTA) alone, without conventional catheter angiography (CCA). Between May 1994 and November 1996, a consecutive series of 60 cases of ruptured cerebral aneurysms was evaluated by both 3D-CTA and CCA prospectively and compared the detectability of cerebral aneurysms. Both 3D-CTA and CCA demonstrated a 100% diagnostic accuracy of ruptured cerebral aneurysms. In the associated unruptured cerebral aneurysms, the diagnostic accuracies of 3D-CTA and CCA were 96% and 92%, respectively. Based on the results, we have operated on 128 consecutive patients with ruptured aneurysms in the acute stage based on 3D-CTA findings since December 1996. One hundred twenty eight ruptured aneurysms including 50 associated unruptured aneurysms were detected by 3D-CTA. In seven of 128 ruptured aneurysms, which included four dissecting vertebral artery aneurysms, two basilar artery (BA) tip aneurysms, and one BA-superior cerebellar artery (SCA) aneurysm, 3D-CTA was followed by CCA to obtain diagnostic confirmation or information concerning the vein of Labbé, which was needed to guide the surgical approach for BA tip aneurysms. All of the ruptured aneurysms were confirmed at surgery and treated successfully. One hundred twenty one patients who underwent surgery with 3D-CTA findings only had no complications related to the lack of information of CCA. The authors considered that 3D-CTA could replace CCA in the diagnosis of ruptured aneurysms and that surgery could be performed in almost all acutely ruptured aneurysms by using only 3D-CTA without CCA.
OBJECTIVE: We sought to confirm the effects of methylprednisolone (MP) on axonal depression induced by hypoxia, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and (+/-)-8-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT). METHODS: Compound action potentials were recorded to assess the effects of MP in neonatal rat spinal cord axons. Longitudinally hemisected spinal cords were superfused for 120 minutes in Ringer's solution saturated with 95% N2 and 5% CO2. The effect of MP on GABA- and 8-OH-DPAT-induced axonal depression was analyzed with oxygenated isolated dorsal columns. RESULTS: Hypoxia (120 min) significantly reduced the response amplitudes in hemicord preparations. MP (30 micromol/L) prevented hypoxia-induced depression of action potential amplitudes. In oxygenated dorsal column preparations, GABA (50 micromol/L) significantly reduced action potential amplitudes. At 10, 30, and 100 micromol/L, MP had no effect on axonal excitability and GABA-induced axonal depression. 8-OH-DPAT (100 micromol/L) significantly reduced the action potential amplitude. MP (10, 30, 50, and 100 micromol/L) reduced 8-OH-DPAT-induced amplitude depression in a dose-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: At the higher concentrations, MP protected spinal cord axons against hypoxia-induced excitability loss. It had an effect on serotonin 1A-induced axonal depression but not on GABA-induced depression.