Spinal meningiomas, from biology to management - A literature review.

Meningiomas arise from arachnoidal cap cells of the meninges, constituting the most common type of central nervous system tumors, and are considered benign tumors in most cases. Their incidence increases with age, and they mainly affect females, constituting 25-46% of primary spinal tumors. Spinal meningiomas could be detected incidentally or be unraveled by various neurological symptoms (e.g., back pain, sphincter dysfunction, sensorimotor deficits). The gold standard diagnostic modality for spinal meningiomas is Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which permits their classification into four categories based on their radiological appearance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification, the majority of spinal meningiomas are grade 1. Nevertheless, they can be of higher grade (grades 2 and 3) with atypical or malignant histology and a more aggressive course. To date, surgery is the best treatment where the big majority of meningiomas can be cured. Advances in surgical techniques (ultrasonic dissection, microsurgery, intraoperative monitoring) increase the complete resection rate. Operated patients have a satisfactory prognosis, even in those with poor preoperative neurological status. Adjuvant therapy has a growing role in treating spinal meningiomas, mainly in the case of subtotal resection and tumor recurrence. The current paper reviews the fundamental epidemiological and clinical aspects of spinal meningiomas, their histological and genetic characteristics, and their management, including the various surgical novelties and techniques.

Animal models of pain: Diversity and benefits.

Chronic pain is a maladaptive neurological disease that remains a major health problem. A deepening of our knowledge on mechanisms that cause pain is a prerequisite to developing novel treatments. A large variety of animal models of pain has been developed that recapitulate the diverse symptoms of different pain pathologies. These models reproduce different pain phenotypes and remain necessary to examine the multidimensional aspects of pain and understand the cellular and molecular basis underlying pain conditions. In this review, we propose an overview of animal models, from simple organisms to rodents and non-human primates and the specific traits of pain pathologies they model. We present the main behavioral tests for assessing pain and investing the underpinning mechanisms of chronic pathological pain. The validity of animal models is analysed based on their ability to mimic human clinical diseases and to predict treatment outcomes. Refine characterization of pathological phenotypes also requires to consider pain globally using specific procedures dedicated to study emotional comorbidities of pain. We discuss the limitations of pain models when research findings fail to be translated from animal models to human clinics. But we also point to some recent successes in analgesic drug development that highlight strategies for improving the predictive validity of animal models of pain. Finally, we emphasize the importance of using assortments of preclinical pain models to identify pain subtype mechanisms, and to foster the development of better analgesics.

Arabic version of the Hayling sentence completion test: scale validation, normative data and factors associated with executive functions in a sample of the Lebanese adults.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted for several reasons, primarily because of the lack of an Arabic version of the HSCT that could be beneficial in our clinical practice. Another reason is the need to find potential relationships between various factors with executive functions, especially problematic mobile phone use as suggested by many previous studies, since smartphones have become, nowadays, a daily companion of people from all generations. Thus, it is important to conduct this study in Lebanon to be adapted to the ideas, customs and social behavior of the Lebanese citizens. Hence, the objectives of the current study are to use the Arabic version of the HSCT in healthy community-dwelling Arabic-speaking adults in Lebanon, to check its validity compared to other versions of the test, as well as to identify risk factors that might affect the executive functions in these adults. METHODS: Between August-December 2019, 350 participants were randomly selected. The Arabic version of the HSCT, divided into automatic and inhibition conditions, was used; in each condition, participants' response-time and number of errors committed were recorded. RESULTS: None of the scale items was removed. For the automatic condition, response-time items converged over one factor (αCronbach = 0.905) and number of errors converged over seven factors (αCronbach = 0.334). For the inhibition condition, response-time converged over one factor (αCronbach = 0.943) and number of errors converged over four factors (αCronbach = 0.728). Using electricity as a heating method inside the house was significantly associated with a lower response-time, whereas higher problematic mobile phone use was associated with higher response-time. Using wood as a heating system inside the house and higher problematic mobile phone use were associated with higher number of errors, while using Arabian incense (bakhour) inside the house was associated with lower number of errors. CONCLUSION: We were able to set normative data for the HSCT Arabic version for use in the Lebanese population. Problematic mobile phone use was associated with lower inhibitory control in terms of response-time and errors number.