Microsurgical treatment of intramedullary tumor in the superior cervical spinal cord / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the curative effect of microsurgery for intramedullary tumor in the superior cervical spinal cord.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical manifestations, microsurgical methods and results were reviewed retrospectively in 12 patients with intramedullary tumors in the superior cervical spinal cord.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No death occurred in these cases after the operations. The intramedullary tumors were totally resected in 10 patients including 8 with ependymomas and 2 with astrocytomas, and subtotally in 2 patients with astrocytomas. The spinal functions of patients, graded by McCormick scale system 3 months after the operations, were improved in 8 cases and remained unchanged in 4 cases. Nine patients were followed up for 1-3 years after the operations, and no tumor recurrence was found in 8 cases with total tumor resection.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Radical microneurosurgery is currently the best choice for the treatment of intradullary tumor in the superior cervical spinal cord.</p>

Evaluation of cerebral vasospasm resulting from subarachnoid hemorrhage with 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of (1)H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) in evaluating cerebral vasospasm resulting from subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Six dogs were subjected to autologous non-heparinized blood injection via cisternal puncture twice at one-day interval to establish models of SAH, and another 6 received injections with normal saline in an identical manner. (1)H-MRS scan was performed on the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after the injections to measure the changes of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr) and choline (Cho). After the (1)H-MRS scan, all the dogs underwent brain digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for determining the basilar artery diameter.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>DSA results on day 3 presented development of obvious vasospasm of the basilar artery, which was most evident on day 7 and recovered obviously on day 14. (1)H-MRS results demonstrated obvious changes of NAA, Cho and Cr on days 3 and 7 in SAH model group, and NAA declined to the lowest level on day 3 followed by gradual ascending till reaching the normal level on day 14. Cho decreased slightly on day 3, then increased and reached the peak level on day 7 and then decreased. Cr rose steadily from day 3 to 14, but since day 7, the rise slowed down obviously and Cr maintain a level not significantly different from that on day 14 (P>0.05). The functional results of (1)H-MRS were consistent with the DSA results.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>(1)H-MRS can be used to monitor the development of cerebral vasospasm resulting from SAH as a good evaluation method for functional imaging.</p>