Preoperative coil localization for spinal surgery is accurate, safe and effective: a single-centre initial experience.

OBJECTIVE AND STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective, descriptive study of consecutive patients undergoing novel preoperative pushable coil localization for spinal surgery, in order to evaluate its feasibility, safety and accuracy. METHODS: Consecutive patients who underwent pre-operative coil marking for spinal surgery at our institution from May 2018 to July 2021 were included. Data were collected for coil placement, accuracy, complications and fluoroscopy usage. Patient demographic and relevant perioperative and procedural data were also collected. RESULTS: A total of 34 patients were identified of which 32 (94%) had complete data and imaging at last clinical follow up, with a mean duration of 13.9 months. There were no incorrect level surgeries performed. There were no coil-related complications found in our cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative coil placement is an accurate, safe and well-tolerated method for level localization in spinal surgeries.

Intraoperative Ultrasound and Findings of Lumbar Intradural Disk Herniation Causing Cauda Equina Syndrome.

Intradural lumbar disk herniation (ILDH) is a rare variant and accounts for 0.33%-1.5% of lumbar disk herniations. Although clues exist on preoperative imaging, they remain subtle and most cases of ILDH are diagnosed intraoperatively. Intraoperative ultrasound is a useful adjunct in diagnosing and managing ILDH. We present a case to demonstrate the features of an intradural herniated disk on ultrasound imaging and highlight the utility of intraoperative ultrasonography in establishing diagnosis, guiding dural opening, and confirming adequate nerve root decompression following diskectomy.

Outcomes after inter-hospital transfer of intensive care patients with haemorrhagic stroke: a 5-year retrospective review.

BACKGROUND: Inter-hospital transfer (IHT) of intensive care patients is a limited resource. We assessed the outcomes of patients with haemorrhagic stroke requiring IHT and intensive care and aimed to identify early prognostic factors of poor neurological outcome. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study of patients admitted to a single tertiary intensive care unit (ICU) with haemorrhagic stroke after IHT between January 2014 and December 2018. Primary outcome was poor neurological outcome (modified Rankin Scale ≥4 at time of discharge from hospital or rehabilitation unit). Secondary outcomes were mortality rate, rate of intervention, rate of organ donation surgery (ODS) and potentially avoidable transfer (PAT). PAT was defined as transfer where the patient did not receive an intervention and had a poor neurological outcome. RESULTS: Ninety patients were included in this study, 48 with intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and 42 with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Fifty-one (56.7%) patients had a poor neurological outcome, including 30 (33%) who died. Factors significantly associated with poor neurological outcome included age > 80 years, lower presenting Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) and bilaterally fixed and dilated pupils. Stepwise logistic regression demonstrated history of hypertension as significantly associated with poor neurological outcome in patients with ICH (P = 0.021). Seven (7.8%) patients had ODS. Sixty-four (71.1%) patients received intervention and 20 (22.2%) transfers were potentially avoidable. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in this cohort are at high risk of poor neurological outcome. Prognostic factors identified in this study may help referring, retrieval and receiving clinicians to discuss futility prior to pursuing IHT.

Learning Curve for Robot-Assisted Percutaneous Pedicle Screw Placement in Thoracolumbar Surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review of an initial cohort of consecutive patients undergoing robot-assisted pedicle screw placement. PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the learning curve, if any, of this new technology over the course of our experience. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Percutaneous pedicle screws have specific advantages over open freehand screws. However, they require intraoperative imaging for their placement (e.g., fluoroscopy and navigation) and require increased surgeon training and skill with the learning curve estimated at approximately 20-30 cases. To our knowledge, this is the first study that measures the learning curve of robot-guided purely percutaneous pedicle screw placement with comprehensive objective postoperative computed tomography (CT) scoring, time per screw placement, and fluoroscopy time. METHODS: We included the first 80 consecutive patients undergoing robot-assisted spinal surgery at Melbourne Private Hospital. Data were collected for pedicle screw placement accuracy, placement time, fluoroscopy time, and revision rate. Patient demographic and relevant perioperative and procedural data were also collected. The patients were divided equally into four sub-groups as per their chronological date of surgery to evaluate how the learning curve affected screw placement outcomes. RESULTS: Total 80 patients were included; 73 (91%) had complete data and postoperative CT imaging that could help assess that placement of 352 thoracolumbar pedicle screws. The rate of clinically acceptable screw placement was high (96.6%, 95.4%, 95.6%, and 90.7%, in groups 1 to 4, respectively, p=0.314) over time. The median time per screw was 7.0 minutes (6.5, 7.0, 6.0, and 6.0 minutes in groups 1 to 4, respectively, p=0.605). Intraoperative revision occurred in only 1 of the 352 screws (0.3%). CONCLUSIONS: We found that robot-assisted screw placement had high accuracy, low placement time, low fluoroscopy time, and a low complication rate. However, there were no significant differences in these parameters at the initial experience and the practiced, experience placement (after approximately 1 year), indicating that robot-assisted pedicle screw placement has a very short (almost no) learning curve.

A novel literature-based approach to identify genetic and molecular predictors of survival in glioblastoma multiforme: Analysis of 14,678 patients using systematic review and meta-analytical tools.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has a poor prognosis despite maximal multimodal therapy. Biomarkers of relevance to prognosis which may also identify treatment targets are needed. A few hundred genetic and molecular predictors have been implicated in the literature, however with the exception of IDH1 and O6-MGMT, there is uncertainty regarding their true prognostic relevance. This study analyses reported genetic and molecular predictors of prognosis in GBM. For each, its relationship with univariate overall survival in adults with GBM is described. A systematic search of MEDLINE (1998-July 2010) was performed. Eligible papers studied the effect of any genetic or molecular marker on univariate overall survival in adult patients with histologically diagnosed GBM. Primary outcomes were median survival difference in months and univariate hazard ratios. Analyses included converting 126 Kaplan-Meier curves and 27 raw data sets into primary outcomes. Seventy-four random effects meta-analyses were performed on 39 unique genetic or molecular factors. Objective criteria were designed to classify factors into the categories of clearly prognostic, weakly prognostic, non-prognostic and promising. Included were 304 publications and 174 studies involving 14,678 unique patients from 33 countries. We identified 422 reported genetic and molecular predictors, of which 52 had ⩾2 studies. IDH1 mutation and O6-MGMT were classified as clearly prognostic, validating the methodology. High Ki-67/MIB-1 and loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 10/10q were classified as weakly prognostic. Four factors were classified as non-prognostic and 13 factors were classified as promising and worthy of additional investigation. Funnel plot analysis did not identify any evidence of publication bias. This study demonstrates a novel literature and meta-analytical based approach to maximise the value that can be derived from the plethora of literature reports of molecular and genetic factors in GBM. Caution is advised in over-interpreting the results due to study limitations. Further research to develop this methodology and improvements in study reporting are suggested.