5 research outputs found
Ictal semiology of epileptic seizures with insulo-opercular genesis
Objective!#!Epileptic seizures with insular genesis are often difficult to distinguish from those originating in the temporal lobe due to their complex and variable semiology. Here, we analyzed differentiating characteristics in the clinical spectrum of insulo-opercular seizures.!##!Methods!#!Ictal semiology in patients with a diagnosis of insulo-opercular epilepsy (IOE) based on imaging of epileptogenic lesions or electrophysiological evidence of an insulo-opercular seizure origin was retrospectively analyzed and compared to age-matched controls with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTE).!##!Results!#!Forty-six IOE and 46 matched MTE patients were included. The most prominent ictal features in IOE were focal motor phenomena in 80.4% of these patients. Somatosensory sensations, version, tonic and clonic features, when present, were more frequent contralateral to the SOZ in MTE patients, while they occurred about equally often ipsilateral and contralateral to the SOZ in IOE patients. Ipsilateral manual automatisms were significantly more frequent in MTE patients than in IOE (p = 0.010). Multivariate analysis correctly identified IOE in 78.3% and MTE in 84.8% using five semiologic features (Chi-square = 53.79 with 5 degrees of freedom, p < 0.0001). A subanalysis comparing patients with purely insular lesions with MTE patients using only the earliest ictal signs showed that somatosensory sensations are significantly more frequent in insular epilepsy (p = 0.010), while automatisms were significantly more frequent in MTE patients (p = 0.06).!##!Significance!#!Our study represents the first in-depth analysis of ictal semiology in IOE compared to MTE. Use of these differentiating characteristics can serve for a correct syndrome classification and to steer appropriate diagnostic and local therapeutic procedures
A whole-brain 3D myeloarchitectonic atlas: Mapping the Vogt-Vogt legacy to the cortical surface
Building precise and detailed parcellations of anatomically and functionally distinct brain areas has been a major focus in Neuroscience. Pioneer anatomists parcellated the cortical manifold based on extensive histological studies of post-mortem brain, harnessing local variations in cortical cyto-and myeloarchitecture to define areal bound-aries. Compared to the cytoarchitectonic field, where multiple neuroimaging studies have recently translated this old legacy data into useful analytical resources, myeloarchitectonics, which parcellate the cortex based on the organization of myelinated fibers, has received less attention. Here, we present the neocortical surface-based myeloarchitectonic atlas based on the histology-derived maps of the Vogt-Vogt school and its 2D translation by Nieuwenhuys. In addition to a myeloarchitectonic parcellation, our package includes intracortical laminar pro-files of myelin content based on Vogt-Vogt-Hopf original publications. Histology-derived myelin density mapped on our atlas demonstrated a close overlap with in vivo quantitative MRI markers for myelin and relates to cytoar-chitectural features. Complementing the existing battery of approaches for digital cartography, the whole-brain myeloarchitectonic atlas offers an opportunity to validate imaging surrogate markers of myelin in both health and disease.11Nsciescopu
Enhanced serum creatine kinase after neurosurgery in lateral position and intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring
OBJECTIVE: Several cases of highly elevated serum levels of creatine kinase (CK) after surgical interventions have been described in the literature. A consensus on possible risk factors is still lacking. We therefore studied CK-levels in a large population of patients undergoing neurosurgical interventions and sought to determine possible risk factors.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 150 elective neurosurgical interventions where pre- and postoperative CK serum levels were determined. The cases were selected such that 50 patients were operated in lateral position and 100 in prone or supine position. During the hospital stay, routine clinical diagnostics were conducted, including medical status and laboratory examinations.
RESULTS: In the patient group (median age 50, 63 male) there were 129 cranial and 21 spinal interventions. In 55 cases, intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) was performed so that in these patients muscles were not relaxed pharmacologically. In a linear regression model, the maximal postoperative CK-level increased compared to baseline (p<0.001). While age and obesity were not identified as risk factors, the CK-level was enhanced after surgery in lateral position (p<0.001) and if IONM was performed (p=0.04).
CONCLUSIONS: The strong association of postoperative serum CK-level with intraoperative positioning and IONM may be related to the elevated body pressure on the operating table in the lateral position, in particular if muscles are not relaxed pharmacologically, which was the case if intraoperative monitoring was performed. In these cases special care has to be taken for the positioning and during the peri-operative management
Bifocal extra- and intradural melanocytoma of the spine: case report and literature review
BACKGROUND: Spinal melanocytoma is one of the most infrequent space-occupying lesions of the central nervous system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of primary bifocal intradural melanocytoma of heterogenous pathological grade to date.
CASE DESCRIPTION: We report the case of a 43-year old patient with primary bifocal melanocytoma, clinically and radiologically resembling benign schwannoma. The patient presented with myeloradiculopathy of the left C3 dermatome. Magnetic resonance imaging of the upper spine revealed two space-occupying lesions with paraspinal extension, initially diagnosed as neurofibroma. Definitive histopathological classification of both lesions was melanocytoma. Both tumours were only partially removed due to adherence to surrounding structures. The patient underwent stereotactic external beam irradiation (EBR). Follow-up at 1 year after surgery revealed no recurrence and the patient remained free of symptoms. The clinical, radiological and pathological features of this rare tumour entity are presented and the available literature is reviewed.
CONCLUSIONS: Intradural melanocytoma, although exceedingly rare, requires a thorough work-up to exclude malignant melanoma. With only two previous reports of multifocal melanocytoma published in the literature, standard therapy has not yet been established and complete surgical removal remains the modality of choice. Patients should be closely monitored to detect local recurrence or malignant degeneration. EBR may be considered in cases where total excision is not achievable and reduces risk of local recurrences