[Surgical treatment of patients with skull defects and cerebrospinal fluid flow disorders after previous decompressive craniectomy]. / Taktika khirurgicheskogo lecheniya patsientov s defektami cherepa posle dekompressivnoi kranioektomii i s likvorodinamicheskimi narusheniyami.

Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is performed for refractory intracranial hypertension following severe traumatic brain injury, vascular and oncological diseases. This fact increases the number of patients with extensive and giant skull defects. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow disorders after DC are often accompanied by ventriculomegaly. However, only some patients with ventriculomegaly have hydrocephalus and require CSF bypass procedures. Differentiation of post-traumatic hydrocephalus requiring surgical treatment and atrophic dilation of ventricular system «ex vacuo¼ caused by brain injury is still an important issue. Skull sealing as a way to normalize CSF circulation and eliminate hydrocephalus is also an open question. Currently, there is no unified approach to patients with extensive and giant cranial defects combined with post-traumatic hydrocephalus. There is no unified algorithm for sequence of reconstructive and CSF bypass operations in these patients. Literature data on risks of infectious complications for different surgical strategies are controversial.

[Intravascular hypothermia for cerebral ischemia after microsurgical clipping of complex MCA aneurysms]. / Vnutrisosudistaya gipotermiya pri tserebral'noi ishemii posle mikrokhirurgicheskogo klipirovaniya slozhnykh anevrizm srednei mozgovoi arterii.

Hypothermia for neuroprotection and correction of intracranial hypertension was described in both experimental and clinical studies. Effectiveness of hypothermia for improvement of functional outcomes in neurosurgical patients is still unclear despite the previous randomized trials. In available national and foreign literature, we found no trials devoted to hypothermia in patients with ischemia after surgical treatment of complex aneurysms of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effectiveness of intravascular hypothermia in patients with ischemic cerebrovascular accidents in early postoperative period after microsurgical clipping of complex MCA aneurysms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We present four patients with cerebral ischemia after microsurgical treatment of complex MCA aneurysms. In all cases, ischemic disorders developed immediately after surgery. We induced intravascular hypothermia 32-34 °C in all patients. CT-based volumetry of ischemia and edema foci was performed to objectively assess the dynamics of ischemic disorders. We carried out volumetry using segmentation of edema and ischemia foci (range 5-33 Hounsfield units). RESULTS: According to brain CT data, all four patients had enlargement of postoperative ischemic brain damage. Nevertheless, ICP was stable that made it possible to avoid decompressive craniotomy. CONCLUSION: Early hypothermia for acute ischemic injury after surgery for complex MCA aneurysms can reduce ischemic perifocal edema. This approach effectively reduces ICP and can exclude the need for decompressive craniotomy in some cases. No side effects of hypothermia justifies further research in this field.