Evaluation of Head Computed Tomography Assessment of Brain Swelling after Acute Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot study

Objective To evaluate the interobserver reliability of a new scale created for quantitatively assessing brain swelling in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients using the computed tomography (CT) findings in three levels. Methods Computed tomography scans of severe head injury patients were randomly selected from a tertiary hospital image database and evaluated by independent groups of neurosurgeons, neurosurgery residents, radiologists, and intensivists from the same hospital. Each specialist assessed the tomographic findings, applying zero to six points in a new scale. The Kappa coefficient was calculated to assess interobserver agreement. Results The highest reliability coefficient was obtained by the neurosurgeons group (0.791; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.975­0.607; p < 0.001), followed by the neurosurgery residents group (0.402; 95%CI: 0.569­0.236; p < 0.001) and by the radiologists group (0.301; 95%CI: 0.488­0.113; p < 0.002). The lowest coefficient was found among the intensivists (0.248; 95%CI: 0.415­0.081; p » 0.004). Conclusion The proposed scale showed good reliability among neurosurgeons, and moderate overall reliability. This tomographic classification might be useful to better assist severe TBI victims, allowing to identify the worsening or amelioration of brain swelling, which should be further investigated. The scale seems to be feasible, even in low income countries,where the costof intracranial pressure (ICP)monitoring is higher than thatofCTs.

The Role of Neurophysiological Monitoring during Complex Aneurysm Surgery: Report of Two Cases and Review of the Literature

The surgical treatment of intracranial aneurysms is a routine operation in the neurosurgeon practice. Complex aneurysms are those with morphological irregularities, usually large or giant; thrombosed, partially thrombosed or calcified; with aberrant fundus/neck ratio and near eloquent neurological structures. These cases demand special skills by the surgical team. The present article is a report of two cases of complex aneurysms successfully treated, with a discussion on the role of neurophysiological monitoring. In these two cases of supra- and infratentorial complex giant aneurysms, intraoperative monitoring was extremely relevant. Thus, we believe that treating complex and giant aneurysms carries several pitfalls, and the use of multimodal intraoperative monitoring is mandatory to mitigate risks and deliver the best result to the patient.

Survival Analysis in Elderly Patients with Glioblastomas: The Influence of Clinical Status, Tumor and Surgical Features

Introduction Glioblastomas are malignant neoplasms, notorious for their poor prognosis. We have conducted a survival analysis in a sample of elderly patients with glioblastomas. Methods The sample of the present study consisted of elderly patients consecutively admitted from January 2014 to January 2016 (24 months) at the Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual de São Paulo. We have evaluated the impact of age, Karnofsky scale (KS) score, tumor location, and occurrence of perioperative complications. Results A total of 42 patients were analyzed. Of these, 23 (54.7%) were men, and 19 (45.3%) were women. Patients > 60 years old, with low KS score, deep-seated tumors, and those with perioperative complications had worst outcomes. Discussion and conclusion Surgery, perioperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy add survival time and quality of life to these patients. In patients with low KS score, isolated radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy might be adequate. Decreasing perioperative complications is essential to adequately deliver adjuvant therapy in elderly patients.

VIM thalamotomy in the treatment of Holmes' tremor secondary to HIV-associated midbrain lesion: a case report.

Holmes' tremor (rubral tremor, cerebellar outflow tremor) is characterized by rest, intention and postural tremor, often localized to one upper extremity, associated with ipsilateral dysmetria and dysdiadochokinesia. We describe a case of successful treatment of Holmes' tremor with unilateral nucleus ventralis intermedius (VIM) thalamotomy. The subject is a 43-year-old woman with unremarkable previous medical history. She presented with complete left hemiparesis in the context of human immunodeficiency syndrome and the magnetic resonance image disclosed a contrast-enhancing lesion in right brain peduncle, in topography of red nucleus. She developed a progressive rest, intention and postural tremor in left upper limb. She was submitted to a stereotactic biopsy and the tremor became worse. She performed awake right VIM thalamotomy, with immediate complete resolution of tremor. There were no complications after procedure, and the result is stable after six months. We highlight the role of thalamotomy in cases like ours, once patient recovered well and, due to HIV, will need further neuroimage studies to evaluate neurologic complications of HIV. Deep brain stimulation in such cases may interfere with coming neuroimage quality and may act like a foreign body.