ABSTRACT
Cerebral hemispherectomy is a neurosurgical procedure that involves surgically removing one hemisphere of the brain, used as a therapeutic option in severe cases of intractable epilepsy. Several animal models have contributed to our understanding of the underlying neuromechanisms. The review was based on a PubMed search using the terms "hemispherectomy" and "mouse" or "rat" or "rodent", with no limitation of year of study or language. We identified a series of elements that were collected and analyzed that add up to our contemporary knowledge of this procedure. Our search returned 29 articles out of which only 15 are relevant to our purposes. Most of the current literature is concerned with the different molecular and electrophysiological issues of neuroplasticity, exhibiting the neurochemical background on which brain plasticity is founded. Experimental neurosurgery is quintessential in understanding the process in which various pathologies respond to in vivo animal models and recreating conditions otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain in humans. The aim of our study was to evaluate the current literature on the modern comprehension that animal models offer for histopathological, neurochemical and microsurgical research. In addition, the review is focused on the neuroplastic/compensatory mechanisms developed after hemispherectomy. Further research is of vital importance in exploring neurotherapeutical aspects of neuroplasticity in central nervous system (CNS) diseases.
Subject(s)
Central Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology , Central Nervous System Diseases/surgery , Disease Models, Animal , Hemispherectomy/methods , Animals , Central Nervous System Diseases/metabolism , Humans , Neuronal Plasticity/physiology , PubMed , RodentiaABSTRACT
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) management has been transformed in recent times with the advent of cheap and effective diagnostic tools and therapy. Sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase-V inhibitor, has been at the centre of this treatment, and its success in treating PAH has led to its widespread uptake in adult and paediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH), as a first line treatment choice. This might apply to persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) or bronchopulmonary dysplasia, as well as to more complex diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. Although recent data regarding long-term mortality and the repeal of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval has complicated the issue, Sildenafil continues to be the major treatment option for paediatric PH for patients in a variety of contexts, and this does not seem likely to change in the foreseeable future. In this review, we provide a summary of pulmonary hypertension in infants and children and the use of Sildenafil for such diseases.
