Benjamin Hendricks

Novel delivery methods bypassing the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor and carries a grave prognosis. Despite years of research investigating potentially new therapies for GBM, the median survival rate of individuals with this disease has remained fairly stagnant. Delivery of drugs to the tumor site is hampered by various barriers posed by the GBM pathological process and by the complex physiology of the blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers. These anatomical and physiological barriers serve as a natural protection for the brain and preserve brain homeostasis, but they also have significantly limited the reach of intraparenchymal treatments in patients with GBM. In this article, the authors review the functional capabilities of the physical and physiological barriers that impede chemotherapy for GBM, with a specific focus on the pathological alterations of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in this disease. They also provide an overview of current and future methods for circumventing these barriers in therapeutic interventions. Although ongoing research has yielded some potential options for future GBM therapies, delivery of chemotherapy medications across the BBB remains elusive and has limited the efficacy of these medications.

Atraumatic multifocal intracerebral hemorrhage.

This article describes a patient with atraumatic multifocal intracerebral, subarachnoid, and bilateral frontal convexity acute subdural hematomas. The patient is a 46-year-old Caucasian man who presented with a spontaneous severe progressive headache. Following a description of the case, this article reviews the reported incidence, proposed etiology, and current management strategies for multifocal spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

Resection of large recurrent third ventricular epidermoid tumors through the posterior interhemispheric transcallosal approach

Epidermoid cysts or tumors comprise 1% of intracranial tumors with a predilection for the cerebellopontine angle or parasellar cisterns. These tumors are derived from an ectopic ectodermal implant seeded between fusing ectodermal surfaces. This results in a benign proliferation of stratified squamous epithelium along a cyst wall with a lumen composed of hyperkeratotic material derived from the desquamating cells. Surgical intervention is the treatment of choice for symptomatic patients. There is no role for radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the treatment of these lesions, including for residual or recurrent disease. The inherent adhesion of the proliferating epithelial lining to surrounding neurovascular structures significantly complicates attempts at gross-total resection. Epidermoid tumors or cysts are rarely reported within the third ventricular region. In this video, the authors demonstrate the technique of right-sided posterior interhemispheric transcallosal approach for maximal resection of a complex recurrent third ventricular epidermoid tumor with lateral ventricular extension. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/wbXp7mc0vT4 .