Reevaluating Innovations in Medical Student Neurosurgery Education: Lessons Learned Today from Data Collected Before COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: Virtual learning has made neurosurgery education more available to medical students (MSs) of all stages than ever before. We aimed to evaluate the impact of on-site learning in order to assess whether a return to this method of teaching, when safe, is warranted for MSs of all years. METHODS: Registrants of the 2019 MS Neurosurgery Training Camps were sent precourse and postcourse surveys to assess changes in self-assessed confidence in concrete neurosurgical skills. Data were analyzed using a 2-tailed paired Student's t-test for continuous variables. A P value <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The 2019 Training Camp had 105 attendees, of whom 94 (89.5%) completed both surveys. Students reported statistically significant improvements in every surveyed skill area, except for understanding what is and is not sterile in an operating room. The cohort of MS 3/4 students indicated a postcourse decrease in confidence in their ability to understand what is and is not sterile in an operating room (93.69 ± 16.41 vs. 86.20 ± 21.18; P < 0.05). MS 3/4 students did not benefit in their ability to perform a neurologic examination or tie knots using a 1-handed technique. CONCLUSIONS: Neurosurgical education initiatives for MSs should continue to be developed. Hands-on neurosurgical training experiences for MSs serve as a valuable educational experience. Improvement in training models will lead to capitalizing on MS education to better improve readiness for neurosurgical residency without concern for patient safety.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Pituitary Apoplexy: A Single-Center Case Series and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is a rare, but life-threatening, condition characterized by pituitary infarction and hemorrhage, most often in the setting of a preexisting adenoma. The risk factors and mechanisms associated with PA are poorly understood. Although neurovascular manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection have been documented, its association with PA has not yet been determined. METHODS: From a prospectively collected database of patients treated at a tertiary care center for pituitary adenoma, we conducted a retrospective medical record review of PA cases during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to December 2020. We also conducted a literature review to identify other reported cases. RESULTS: We identified 3 consecutive cases of PA and concomitant COVID-19 infection. The most common symptoms at presentation were headache and vision changes. The included patients were successfully treated with surgical decompression and medical management of the associated endocrinopathy, ultimately experiencing improvement in their visual symptoms at the latest follow-up examination. COVID-19 infection in the perioperative period was corroborated by polymerase chain reaction test results in all the patients. CONCLUSIONS: With the addition of our series to the literature, 10 cases of PA in the setting of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed. The present series was limited in its ability to draw conclusions about the relationship between these 2 entities. However, COVID-19 infection might represent a risk factor for the development of PA. Further studies are required.