Role of intraoperative ultrasonography and color flow imaging as a neuronavigation tool during oeprative neurosurgical procedures in developing countries

The aim of this study was to assess the value of the use of intra- operative ultrasonography [IOUS] and color flow imaging [CFI] as a cheap simple neuronavigation tool during operative neurosurgical procedures. IOUS coupled with CFI was used during operative neurosurgical procedures performed for 23 patients. Both IOUS and CFI were useful during all the 23 neurosurgical procedures. They helped to define the site of all lesions to avoid unnecessary resection or manipulation to healthy neural tissues away from the lesion and to evaluate the extent of lesion removal. They showed the need to increase the extent of resection in three sub-cortical lesions. IOUS and CFI were useful adjunctive tools during operative neurosurgical procedures. They did not significantly increase the operative interference time and gave valuable operative data, such as the site of lesions and the extent of their resection and localization of the site of insertion of VP shunt and depth EEG electrodes

Medulloblastoma results of treatment of 45 patients

This study dealt with characteristics and treatment outcome of 51 patients with medulloblastoma [27 females and 24 males]. According to the Chang staging system, four patients had T1, 15 had T2, 13 had T3 and 16 had T4 tumors and the stage was unknown in three patients. Eight patients had leptomeningeal dissemination [M3]. Complete tumor resection was performed in 12, near total resection in nine, partial resection in 19 and biopsy only in 11 patients. Forty-five patients completed postoperative irradiation using a telecobalt machine with an 80 cm SSD. The total dose to the whole brain ranged from 30-40 Gy over 4-5 weeks and an additional boost of 15-20 Gy over 2-3 weeks was given to the posterior fossa. The total dose to the spinal cord ranged from 30-35 Gy over 4-5 weeks

Prognostic value of clinical parameters and CT scan findings on outcome in patients with spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral haematoma

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the clinical parameters and the computerized Tomography [CT] scan findings of those patients on outcome and their influence on management selection. The clinical parameters examined were the age of patient, the initial level of consciousness and the presence of brain stem signs. The CT scan parameters studied were location, size, and intraventricular extension of ICH. It was found that the initial level of consciousness, the volume of ICH and the presence of brain stem signs are the most important prognostic factors affecting outcome and they were statistically significant. The presence of intraventricular extension is associated with bad prognosis. The age of the patient and the location of ICH did not affect the outcome and they were statistically insignificant