Surgical management of an extensive spinal epidural abscess: illustrative cases.

BACKGROUND: Extensive spinal epidural abscesses (SEAs) occupying three or more spinal regions are rare. This study aimed to address the key dilemma of surgical treatment for holospinal epidural abscesses, i.e., to determine the required scope of surgery and minimize surgical trauma with adequate purulent drainage. OBSERVATIONS: Two patients with extensive SEAs were treated at the Neurosurgery Department of the Central Hospital of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine from 2018 to 2020. Both patients had a neurological deficit and general inflammatory response syndrome. Spinal magnetic resonance examinations were performed, showing that the first and second patients had extensive SEAs at T11/S1 and C2/L1, respectively. Both underwent minimally invasive abscess drainage via intra- and translaminar access at the most caudal point using an epidural silicone catheter in the cranial direction along the entire length of the abscess. LESSONS: To achieve the key goal of extensive SEA treatment, i.e., to prevent the development of a persistent neurological deficit, immediate effective spinal canal decompression should be performed. Access method and scope should meet the requirements of spinal canal decompression and purulent content aspiration to the greatest possible extent while inducing minimal trauma.

Mortality and Functional Outcome Predictors in Combat-Related Penetrating Brain Injury Treatment in a Specialty Civilian Medical Facility.

INTRODUCTION: The combined use of new types of weapons and new types of personal protective equipment has led to changes in the occurrence, nature, and severity of penetrating brain wounds. The availability of modern equipment, methods of treatment, and trained medical personnel in a civilian hospital, as well as advanced specialty medical care, has improved treatment outcomes. There have been a limited number of publications regarding analysis and predictors of treatment outcomes in patients with combat-related penetrating brain injury in contemporary armed conflicts. The purpose of this study was to analyze the results of surgical treatment of patients with penetrating brain injury and to identify significant outcome predictors in these patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective analysis of penetrating brain injury in patients who were admitted to Mechnikov Dnipropetrovsk Regional Clinical Hospital, Ukraine, from May 9, 2014, to December 31, 2017. All wounds were sustained during local armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The primary outcomes of interest were mortality rate at 1 month and Glasgow Outcome Scale score at 12 months after the injury. RESULTS: In total, 184 patients were identified with combat-related brain injury; of those, 121 patients with penetrating brain injury were included in our study. All patients were male soldiers with a mean age of 34.1 years (standard deviation [SD], 9.1 years). Mean admission Glasgow Coma Scale score was 10 (SD, 4), and mean admission Injury Severity Score was 27.7 (SD, 7.6). Mortality within 1 month was 20.7%, and intracranial purulent-septic complications were diagnosed in 11.6% of the patients. Overall, 65.3% of the patients had favorable outcome (good recovery or moderate disability) based on Glasgow Outcome Scale score at 12 months after the injury. The following were predictors of mortality or poor functional outcome at 1 year after the injury: low Glasgow Coma Scale score on admission, gunshot wound to the head, dural venous sinuses wound, presence of intracerebral hematomas, intraventricular and subarachnoid hemorrhage accompanied by lateral or axial dislocation, and presence of intracranial purulent-septic complications. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, combat-related penetrating brain injuries had satisfactory treatment outcomes. Treatment outcomes in this study were comparable to those previously reported by other authors in military populations and significantly better than outcomes of peacetime penetrating brain injury treatment.

Successful Surgical Treatment of Severe Perforating Diametric Craniocerebral Gunshot Wound Sustained during Combat: A Case Report.

Many researchers classify perforating diametric craniocerebral gunshot wounds as fatal because mortality exceeds 96% and the majority of patients with such injuries die before hospitalization. A 23-year-old Ukrainian male soldier was admitted to a regional hospital with a severe perforating craniocerebral wound in a comatose state (Glasgow Coma Scale score, 5). Following brain helical computed tomography, the patient underwent primary treatment of the cerebral wound with primary duraplasty and inflow/outflow drainage. After 18 days of treatment in the intensive care unit, he was transferred to a military hospital for further rehabilitation. This report details our unusual case of successful treatment of a perforating diametric craniocerebral gunshot wound.

Successful surgical treatment of a patient with combined gunshot shrapnel injuries in the heart and brain complicated by middle cerebral artery pseudoaneurysm.

Successful step-by-step treatment of a combined gunshot shrapnel injury of the brain, damaging the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) branches, and penetrating myocardium injury is discussed. Open brain and heart surgeries were performed. A left MCA pseudoaneurysm was formed postoperatively. Endovascular exclusion of the left MCA pseudoaneurysm was performed using detachable micro coils. Finally, plastic reconstruction of the posttraumatic cranial vault defect was performed using a dynamic titanium plate. Treatment of severe combined gunshot shrapnel brain injury with formation of MCA pseudoaneurysm and a penetrating myocardium injury requires a multimodal approach involving related specialists (neurosurgeon, cardiosurgeon and interventional radiologist).

Surgery for Triple Pathology of Giant Vestibular Schwannoma Associated with Carotid Artery Stenosis and Intracranial Aneurysm: Case Report.

Here we report the case of a 56-year-old woman who presented with a highly unusual combination of three pathologies, namely a giant left-sided vestibular schwannoma, severe stenosis of the left internal carotid artery, and a right anterior cerebral artery aneurysm. The chosen approach comprised three consecutive surgical procedures, namely (1) aneurysm embolization, (2) carotid stenosis stenting, and (3) vestibular schwannoma excision. This approach avoided complications and achieved a satisfactory functional outcome. To the best of our knowledge, this combination of three conditions has not been previously reported in the English-language literature.