Carotid endarterectomy: Results and long-term follow-up of a single institution

Objectives : To document our experiences, technical procedure and outcomes of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in patients with symptomatic carotid stenosis. Material and Methods : A total of 49 consecutive patients underwent 53 CEAs (three bilateral, one redo) for severe carotid artery stenosis. There were 39 males and 10 females, with mean age of 63 years. All patients underwent neck Doppler, computed tomography/magnetic resonance angiography/digital substraction angiography and a detailed cardiological evaluation. Antiplatelet drugs were continued perioperatively. Surgery was performed under general anesthesia with propofol cerebral protection, mild hypothermia and continuous electroencephalogram monitoring. The procedure was done under microscope and closure was done using 6-0 prolene. Clinical and radiological follow-up was done. Results : Our mean follow-up was 4.69 years. All patients underwent primary suturing except one redo CEA done with venous patch graft. Three patients required intraoperative shunting. One patient died secondary to myocardial infarction peroperatively prior to carotid manipulation. One patient had stroke within 6 h, secondary to operative site intraluminal thrombus and was re-explored. Two patients had transient postoperative hemiparesis and aphasia while two patients had altered sensorium, all self-limiting, with normal imaging. One patient developed temporary twelfth-nerve paresis. One patient had persistent transient ischemic attack on the follow-up. Thus, the perioperative mortality rate was 1.89% and stroke rate was 1.89%. Conclusions : CEA for severe carotid stenosis is a safe procedure with good protection from ischemic events. Detailed preoperative cardiac evaluation and appropriate patient selection is essential

Current treatment strategy in the management of vestibular schwannoma

Background: The changing trends in the management of vestibular schwannoma (VS) in our practice over the last two decades as well as the current status are presented here. Materials and Methods: The observations are based on the experience of 559 consecutive cases of VS operated by the first author between 1987 and 2008, 438 of which were operated by microsurgery and 139 by gamma knife radiosurgery (GKR) (18 of which were previously operated by the authors). A detailed analysis of microsurgically managed patients in two different periods (100 consecutive patients each before 1993 and 2008) were compared to see the changing trend and document current results. Results and Discussion: In the initial experience (1990s), the emphasis in microsurgery was preserving life, total excision of tumor and preservation of function in that order. In the 21st century, the emphasis in microsurgery has been all about functional preservation. In 100 consecutive cases of VS (excluding neurofibromatosis-2) that were treated microsurgically between 2005-08, there were four small tumors (< 2 cm), 14 medium-sized tumors (2-3 cm) and 82 large tumors (≥3 cm). The total excision rate was 83%. The facial nerve anatomical preservation rate was 96% and function was Grade III House-Brackmann (HB) or better in 87%. Both the total excision rate and facial function of Grade II HB or better were 100% in cases with tumor size less than three cm. Functional hearing preservation was achieved in ten cases. There was no operative mortality. Conclusion: Total excision of VS, though aimed at, is no more pursued at the cost of facial function. Moreover, microsurgery, radiosurgery and observation are all valid options in the management of VS and choosing the correct modality helps in achieving optimal outcome

Epidemiology of Central Nervous System Infectious Diseases: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review With Implications for Neurosurgeons Worldwide

OBJECTIVECentral nervous system (CNS) infections cause significant morbidity and mortality and often require neurosurgical intervention for proper diagnosis and treatment. However, neither the international burden of CNS infection, nor the current capacity of the neurosurgical workforce to treat these diseases is well characterized. The objective of this study was to elucidate the global incidence of surgically relevant CNS infection, highlighting geographic areas for targeted improvement in neurosurgical capacity.METHODSA systematic literature review and meta-analysis were performed to capture studies published between 1990 and 2016. PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched using variations of terms relating to CNS infection and epidemiology (incidence, prevalence, burden, case fatality, etc.). To deliver a geographic breakdown of disease, results were pooled using the random-effects model and stratified by WHO region and national income status for the different CNS infection types.RESULTSThe search yielded 10,906 studies, 154 of which were used in the final qualitative analysis. A meta-analysis was performed to compute disease incidence by using data extracted from 71 of the 154 studies. The remaining 83 studies were excluded from the quantitative analysis because they did not report incidence. A total of 508,078 cases of CNS infections across all studies were included, with a total sample size of 130,681,681 individuals. Mean patient age was 35.8 years (range: newborn to 95 years), and the male/female ratio was 1:1.74. Among the 71 studies with incidence data, 39 were based in high-income countries, 25 in middle-income countries, and 7 in low-income countries. The pooled incidence of studied CNS infections was consistently highest in low-income countries, followed by middle- and then high-income countries. Regarding WHO regions, Africa had the highest pooled incidence of bacterial meningitis (65 cases/100,000 people), neurocysticercosis (650/100,000), and tuberculous spondylodiscitis (55/100,000), whereas Southeast Asia had the highest pooled incidence of intracranial abscess (49/100,000), and Europe had the highest pooled incidence of nontuberculous vertebral spondylodiscitis (5/100,000). Overall, few articles reported data on deaths associated with infection. The limited case fatality data revealed the highest case fatality for tuberculous meningitis/spondylodiscitis (21.1%) and the lowest for neurocysticercosis (5.5%). In all five disease categories, funnel plots assessing for publication bias were asymmetrical and suggested that the results may underestimate the incidence of disease.CONCLUSIONSThis systematic review and meta-analysis approximates the global incidence of neurosurgically relevant infectious diseases. These results underscore the disproportionate burden of CNS infections in the developing world, where there is a tremendous demand to provide training and resources for high-quality neurosurgical care