Endoscopic Ventricular Lavage in Pediatric Pyogenic Cerebral Ventriculitis Associated with Shunt: Outcomes and Technical Notes.

OBJECTIVE: Pyogenic cerebral ventriculitis (PCV) is a rare infectious entity characterized by a potent inflammatory reaction of the ventricular ependyma, which in most cases leads to death. We aim to present the technical note and protocol, based on our center's 10-year experience of the use of endoscopic ventricular lavage (EVL) in pediatric patients with PCV and ventricular peritoneal shunt. METHODS: For this study, all pediatric patients (<16 years) with VP shunts and PCV who were treated with EVL between January 2012 and January 2022 were included. RESULTS: Thirty-four pediatric patients with ventriculitis were analyzed. The median age was 6 years, with 61.7% being male. Most consultations occurred on Day 2 of symptoms. Fever (38.2%) and altered consciousness (26.5%) were the most common initial symptoms. Early ventriculitis was observed in 67.7% of patients. Pathogen identification in the initial cerebrospinal fluid sample was 70.6%, while samples from ventricular peritoneal shunt yielded 23.53% and catheter culture 79.4%. Gram-positive bacteria, mainly S.epidermidis (44.1%), was the most commonly isolated agent. EVL was performed in 73.5% on the second or third day. Reinfection occurred in 23.5%, and 26.5% of patients died. Concordance analysis showed 85.3% agreement between LP and catheter tip samples. Functionality improved, with 55.88% achieving a Lansky score of 90. Early ventriculitis was associated with better Lansky scores. CONCLUSION: EVL can be a useful tool in the management of PCV in cases with VP shunts. Our study suggests a higher chance of isolating an infection-causing germ in the catheter tip culture specimen compared to the cerebrospinal fluid culture. However, future studies with a larger number of patients, or multicentric studies are required for further analysis.

Treatment Limitations for Pediatric Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas in a Middle-Income Country.

Objectives To evaluate the surgical management outcomes in pediatric patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) who underwent intended biopsies and partial resections in a middle-income country, highlighting the barriers and challenges of these procedures for further investigation. Methods A retrospective review of a prospective acquired series of patients who underwent biopsy or resection for DIPG between January 2012 and June 2018 at our institution was performed. Results A total of 43 patients with posterior fossa tumors were identified. From these, seven pediatric DIPG cases were enrolled. Five were males. The median age was 5 years (range: 1-12 years). Only one patient (14.3%) had a ganglioglioma, while the others presented pilocytic and diffuse astrocytomas. Two (28.6%) patients had an intentional biopsy, and the other five (71.4%) had a partial resection. In the three (28.6%) patients who presented with associated hydrocephalus, the endoscopic third ventriculostomy was performed in the same surgical time. The median preoperative Lansky play-performance scale (LPPS) was 80 (range: 60-100), while the median postoperative LPPS was 23 (range: 7-52). Conclusion A decrease in overall survival was noted compared with data reported in other series. Multifactorial barriers were discussed including the social, geographic, and economic features that may influence on final outcomes.

Reconstruction of the Ascending Reticular Activating System with Diffusion Tensor Tractography in Patients with a Disorder of Consciousness after Traumatic Brain Injury.

This work describes the reconstruction of the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) with diffusion tensor tractography in three patients with altered consciousness after traumatic brain injury. A diffusion tensor tractography was performed in three patients with impaired consciousness after a severe traumatic brain injury. A 1.5 T scanner was used to obtain the tensor sequences; axial tensors were acquired. Post-processing was performed, and the mean fractional anisotropy (FA) values were recorded. The FA maps were used to do a manual tracing of the following regions of interest (ROIs): the ventromedial midbrain, the anterior thalamus, and the hypothalamus. Case 1 presented destruction of the right dorsal and ventral tegmental tracts as well as destruction of the right middle forebrain bundle, case 2 had destruction of the right dorsal tegmental tract, and case 3 had destruction of the bilateral ventral and dorsal tegmental tracts, as well as destruction of the right middle forebrain bundle. The affected fibers of the ascending reticular activating system with diffuse axonal injury and the FA values abnormalities in the ascending reticular activating system in three patients with a disorder of consciousness (DOC) after traumatic brain injury are described.