Biopsy of Brainstem Gliomas Using Flexible Endoscopes.

OBJECTIVES: To describe our experience and the results obtained in performing transventricular brainstem biopsy with the use of flexible neuroendoscops. METHODS: We identified patients who underwent a neuroendoscopic procedure with brainstem lesion biopsy to obtain histopathologic diagnosis and to treat obstructive hydrocephalus. All patients had follow-up examinations at months 1, 3, 6, and 12 postsurgery and then annually. RESULTS: Seven patients had a transventricular biopsy of the brainstem performed. Of those, five were pediatric patients. The median age was 10 years (range: 3-26 years). Five of them were female and two male. Four patients presented with secondary obstructive hydrocephalus. The main clinical presentations were intracranial hypertension syndrome in four patients, motor neuron disease in four patients, two with decreased state of alertness, two with gait ataxia, and one with Parinaud syndrome. The types of tumors found in the histopathology and their location were one ventral (pons) and one aqueductal anaplastic astrocytoma, two ventral, one aqueductal, and one attached to the floor of the fourth ventricle pilocytic astrocytoma and one ventral low-grade astrocytoma. The route taken to approach the ventral tumors was made through premammillary fenestration. The tumors of the aqueduct and floor of the fourth ventricle were approached transaqueductally. CONCLUSION: The use of flexible endoscops for biopsy of ventral, dorsal (tectum lamina quadrigemina), and diffuse brainstem tumors is a useful, effective, and safe procedure that also allows to treat obstructive hydrocephalus secondary to the tumors.

Endoscopic transventricular transaqueductal Magendie and Luschka foraminoplasty for hydrocephalus.

BACKGROUND: Routinely, hydrocephalus related to fourth ventricular outlet obstruction (FVOO) has been managed with ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting or endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV). Few reports on Magendie foraminoplasty exist, and Luschka foraminoplasty has not been described. OBJECTIVE: To present an alternative technique in the management of FVOO via an endoscopic transventricular transaqueductal Magendie and Luschka foraminoplasty and to discuss the indications, technique, findings, and outcomes. METHODS: Between 1994 and 2011, all patients who underwent endoscopic Magendie and Luschka foraminoplasty were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 33 Magendie (28) and/or Luschka (5) foraminoplasties were performed in 30 patients. Twenty-three were adult and 7 were pediatric patients. The etiology of the FVOO was divided into primary etiologies (congenital membrane in 5 and atresia in 2) and secondary causes (neurocysticercosis in 14 patients, bacterial meningitis in 9). Fifteen (50%) had previously failed procedures. Intraoperative findings that led to Magendie/Luschka foraminoplasty were ETV not feasible to perform, nonpatent basal subarachnoid space, or primary FVOO. Minor postoperative complications were seen in 3 patients. Only 26 patients had long-term follow-up; 17 (65.3%) of these had clinical improvement and did not require further procedures. Nine (34.7%) did not improve. Eight required another procedure (7 shunts, and 1 endoscopic procedure). One patient died. CONCLUSION: Flexible neuroendoscopic transventricular transforaminal Magendie and Luschka foraminoplasty is feasible and safe. These procedures may prove to be viable alternatives to standard ETV and VP shunt in appropriate patients. Adequate intraoperative assessment of ETV success is necessary to identify patients who will benefit.

Endoscopic scoring system for extraparenchymal neurocysticercosis.

OBJECTIVE: To propose a scoring system using endoscopy for assessment of the inflammatory alterations caused by neurocysticercosis (NCC) inside the ventricular cavities and the basal subarachnoid space. METHODS: Video recordings of the endoscopic procedures in patients with hydrocephalus secondary to NCC were assessed in a two-phase study. In the first phase (n = 10), the assigned score of each patient was correlated with the cerebrospinal fluid values obtained by lumbar and ventricular puncture. Reproducibility was determined using an intraclass correlation coefficient. In the second phase (n = 30), the prognostic value of the score was tested by comparing it with the patient's Karnofsky performance score (KPS) 3 months after endoscopy. RESULTS: The score included four main components: ependymal findings, number of involved sites, abnormalities in the subarachnoid space, and other alterations. These values were summed to produce a total score, which correlated strongly with both protein and cell counts from ventricular cerebrospinal fluid. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the global score was 0.85. In the second phase, the scores were divided into mild, moderate, and severe categories (6, 15, and 9 patients). The initial KPS was similar between the groups (P = 0.56); however, when measured 3 months later, there were significant differences (P = 0.02). The logistic regression analysis of patients with a score in the severe range (odds ratio = 0.09; 95% confidence interval, 0.06-0.64) showed a reduced chance for achieving a good outcome (KPS ≥90) after 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: Our scoring system enables endoscopic classification of the damage caused by NCC in the ventricular and basal subarachnoid space. The score has a biologic basis and a good internal reproducibility. The score seems to be useful for determining the short-term prognosis, and patients with high scores require additional therapeutic measures to improve their outcomes.

Intraventricular and subarachnoid basal cisterns neurocysticercosis: a comparative study between traditional treatment versus neuroendoscopic surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of traditional treatment and minimal invasive flexible endoscopy surgery (MIFNES) in the treatment of intraventricular and subarachnoid basal cisterns neurocysticercosis (NCC). METHODS: This was an observational comparative study of two independent series with a total of 140 patients with extremely severe forms of NCC from two different institutions. All 83 patients submitted for traditional treatment series received albendazole, and some of them received additionally praziquantel. Each cycle of both regimens lasted 4 weeks. The majority of these patients had at least one ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. The rest 57 patients were submitted to the MIFNES treatment. The follow-up period was at least 6 months. RESULTS: In all patients of both series cysticercal cysts disappeared, became calcified, or were removed. Symptoms of 136 patients improved. Four patients died. The average in the quality of life measured using the Karnofsky scale improved from a mean of 52.22 and 52.44 at the beginning to 85.48 and 90.37 at 6 months (p < 0.003), in the traditional treatment and MIFNES series, respectively. From traditional treatment, almost all patients remained with at least one VP shunt, and from the MIFNES series only 12 patients. CONCLUSIONS: The authors postulate that MIFNES is a good alternative for the management of intraventricular and subarachnoid basal cisterns NCC because it allows removal of most of the parasites, rapid recovery of the patients, and removal and placement of shunt under direct vision when necessary. Traditional treatment is a second option where the MIFNES procedure is not available.

Bruns syndrome caused by intraventricular neurocysticercosis treated using flexible endoscopy.

OBJECT: Neurocysticercosis is the most frequent cause of hydrocephalus in adults in regions where the disease is endemic, including Latin America. The prognosis for intraventricular neurocysticercosis is worse than that for the intraparenchymal form of the disease, making treatment especially important. Although active and viable intraventricular cysts produce no reaction in the host, they can cause noncommunicating hydrocephalus, whose onset is frequently abrupt. Sometimes the increasing intracranial pressure due to obstruction of the cerebral aqueduct (ball-valve mechanism) is intermittent, producing relapsing/remitting symptoms; this life-threatening phenomenon is called "Bruns syndrome." METHODS: Between 1996 and 2004, among a group of 285 patients with neurocysticercosis and Bruns syndrome caused by cysticercal cysts of the third ventricle was diagnosed in seven patients by using magnetic resonance imaging. An endoscopic procedure with a flexible cerebral endoscope was performed, intact parasitic cysts were removed, and a complete exploration was undertaken to look for more cysticercal cysts in the whole ventricular system and the subarachnoid basal cisterns. There were no deaths or complications. All seven patients were asymptomatic during a follow-up period ranging from 1 to 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Flexible cerebral endoscopy allows one, in a minimally invasive manner, to approach the ventricular system and subarachnoid basal cisterns and to remove intraventricular neurocysticercal cysts. Flexible endoscopy is an alternative treatment for Bruns syndrome caused by neurocysticercosis of the third ventricle.

Observación del sistema ventricular y espacio subaracnoideo de la base del cráneo por neuroendoscopia flexible: Estructuras normales / Observation of the ventricular system and subarachnoid space in the skull base by flexible neuroendoscopy: normal structures

En las últimas dos décadas a nivel mundial y en la última década en Latinoamérica, especialmente en México, la endoscopia cerebral como parte de la cirugía neurológica de mínima invasión ha sido un paso de gran importancia para el tratamiento de enfermedades neurológicas T4 como hidrocefalia congénita o adquirida, malformaciones Chiari, neurocisticercosis, enfermedad vascular cerebral, tumores o quistes ventriculares y paraventriculares, quistes aracnoideos e hidrocefalias secundarias a disfunciones valvulares. Entre las regiones más inaccesibles al sistema nervioso central se encuentran los ventrículos laterales, el tercer ventrículo, el acueducto cerebral, el cuarto ventrículo y el espacio subaracnoideo de la base del cráneo. Gracias a los sistemas de fibra óptica y luz en combinación con la experiencia de nueve años consecutivos y más de 600 endoscopias realizadas, en su mayoría endoscopias cerebrales flexibles, presentarnos el abordaje por medio de neuronavegación con endoscopía cerebral flexible de la anatomía normal y sus variantes de todo el sistema ventricular y el espacio subaracnoideo de la base del cráneo, incluyendo el espacio subaracnoideo de la médula cervical. También presentamos las estructuras relacionadas a estos sitios como: venas, arterias, nervios craneales, glándula pituitaria y plexos coroideos.

Worldwide in the last two decades, in Latin America in the last decade, and Mexico in particular cerebral endoscopy as part of the minimally invasive neurological surgery, has constituted a significant advance for the treatment of neurological diseases such as congenital or acquired hydrocephalus, Chiari malformation, neurocysticercosis, stroke, ventricular and paraventricular tumors and cysts, arachnoidal cyst and hydrocephalus secondary to shunt malfunction. The lateral ventricles, the third ventricle, the cerebral aqueduct, the fourth ventricle, and the subarachnoid basal cisterns are among the most non accessible regions of the central nervous system. Due to light rand fiber optic systems in combination with the experiences of nine consecutive year's and more than 600 endoscopies, most of them flexible neuroendoscopies, we present the neuroendoscopic approach with flexible cerebral endoscope to the anatomy and its normal variants of the whole ventricle system and the subarachnoid basal cisterns including the subarachnoid space of the cervical spine. We also describe their site related structures including veins, arteries, cranial nerves, pituitary gland, choroidal plexus and their normal anatomic variants.