Kota Kagawa

Giant cell tumor of the temporal bone with intratumoral hemorrhage.

We report a case of hemorrhagic giant cell tumor (GCT) of the temporal bone in a 77-year-old woman. The patient suffered from sudden-onset headache and vomiting associated with left temporal hemorrhage. MRI revealed a left temporal extradural mass lesion expanding to the subtemporal fossa, showing strong hypointensity on T(2)-weighted imaging. Subsequent MRI revealed tumor growth with multiple cystic components at 1-month follow up. The tumor was found to be a GCT associated with recent intratumoral hemorrhage and abundant hemosiderin pigmentation. T(2)-weighted MRI of the GCT strongly supported hemosiderin deposition. Secondary formation of cystic components in the GCT can also reflect prior hemorrhage and indicate the progression of shape modification. A literature review revealed that hemosiderin deposition in this rare entity is not as rare as previously thought and that massive intratumoral hemorrhage may occur.

Combined surgical intervention with vagus nerve stimulation following corpus callosotomy in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome

BackgroundLennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a drug-resistant pediatric epilepsy characterized by multiple seizure types, including drop attacks (DAs). Palliative procedures such as corpus callosotomy (CC) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) may be effective for adequate seizure control in LGS patients who are not candidates for resective surgery. We evaluated the efficacy of the combination of these two procedures for LGS-related seizures.MethodTen patients with LGS (age 3-30 years at VNS implantation) underwent CC and subsequent VNS. We evaluated surgical outcomes, particularly with respect to the efficacy of VNS on seizure reduction rates for different residual seizure types after CC. We compared clinical parameters, including sex, age, seizure duration, history, MRI findings, extent of CC, number of antiepileptic drugs, and neuropsychological states, between VNS responders and non-responders to predict satisfactory seizure outcomes with respect to residual seizures after CC.FindingsVNS was effective for residual seizures regardless of seizure type (except for DAs) after CC in patients with LGS. Six of ten (60%) patients had a satisfactory seizure outcome (≥50% seizure reduction) for all residual seizure types after VNS. Two of ten (20%) patients were seizure-free at 12 months post-VNS. Even those patients that were non-responders, with respect to all seizures including DAs, after prior CC showed favorable responses to subsequent VNS. Compared to VNS, excellent seizure outcomes for DAs were achieved after CC in seven of nine (77.8%) patients with DAs. Among the clinical parameters, only conversation ability before VNS was significantly different between responders and non-responders (p = 0.033).ConclusionCombined VNS and prior CC produced satisfactory seizure outcomes in LGS patients with different seizure types, including DAs. Even non-responders to prior CC responded to subsequent VNS for residual seizures, except for DAs. There is a greater likelihood that these procedures may be more feasible in patients who possess conversation ability prior to VNS.

Cerebral Venous Congestion following Closed Head Injury in a Child

In pediatric patients with head injury, progressive hemispheric low density (HLD) on CT is a specific phenomenon although the underlying mechanism remains controversial. We used CT, MRI, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) studies to identify pathophysiological patterns in a child. A 6-year-old boy sustained a left temporal head injury in a car accident. Although the initial CT was normal, serial CT demonstrated progressive left HLD; an extensive heterogeneous high-intensity lesion was noted on fluid-attenuated imaging recovery (FLAIR) and DWI studies. On PWI, the regional cerebral blood volume was increased and the mean transit time was markedly prolonged. After the conservative treatment, despite the widespread abnormal imaging on CT and DWI, the final brain damage located in isolated left temporal cortical brain damage. The lesion coincided with the area on PWI where increased rCBV and MTT prolongation were noted. Based on these findings, we posit that the extensive but reversible brain changes seen on neuroimaging studies were the result of venous congestion. Our result stresses the importance of functional neuroimaging such as DWI and PWI in order to elucidate the pathophysiology of HLD.

Magnetoencephalography using gradient magnetic field topography (GMFT) can predict successful anterior corpus callosotomy in patients with drop attacks

OBJECTIVE Gradient magnetic field topography (GMFT) with magnetoencephalography (MEG) has been developed to demonstrate magnetic-field gradients of epileptic spikes on a volume-rendered brain surface. We evaluated GMFT in patients with anterior 2/3 corpus callosotomy (ACC) for drop-attacks. METHODS Eight patients (age; 11-37 years) underwent ACC. GMFT evaluated the predominant distributions (anterior/posterior) and the spreading patterns (unilateral/bilateral) of pre- and postoperative interictal MEG spikes corresponding to generalized spikes on EEG. We compared the occurrence of four types of spikes; anterior unilateral spike (AUS), posterior unilateral spike (PUS), anterior bilateral spike (ABS), posterior bilateral spike (PBS) between 5 patients (group G) with good control of drop attacks and 3 patients (group P) with residual drop attacks. RESULTS Preoperatively, GMFT showed the proportion of ABS in group G (mean ± SD, 57.4 ± 9.7%) was significantly (p=0.024) higher than that in group P (31.6 ± 15.2%). The number and proportion of postoperative ABS and PBS in group G were significantly decreased (p<0.05 in all). CONCLUSION GMFT is valuable to evaluate pre- and post-operative predominant spikes in patients with drop attacks. SIGNIFICANCE GMFT revealed a higher proportion of preoperative ABS and postoperative decline of both ABS and PBS in patients with good control of drop attacks after ACC.

Effective withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs in premonitoring admission to capture seizures during limited video‐EEG monitoring

Withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is commonly applied to capture seizures in video‐EEG (vEEG) monitoring for patients with infrequent but intractable seizures. Because of the half‐life of AEDs, AED withdrawal during only vEEG tends to be inadequate to provoke seizures within the vEEG admission. We hypothesize that prewithdrawal of long‐half‐life AEDs in premonitoring admission (PMA) is safe and effective to capture seizures in the limited time of vEEG. We determined the effect of half‐life on the interval between AED withdrawal and seizure occurrence.

Electrocorticographic-Histopathologic Correlations Implying Epileptogenicity of Dysembryoplastic Neuroepithelial Tumor

Based on intracranial-video electroencephalography (EEG), histopathological features, and postoperative seizure outcome, we elucidated the epileptogenicity in patients with dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT). Five patients (P1–P5) pathologically diagnosed with DNT underwent intracranial-video EEG to identify the ictal onset zone and irritative zone. We evaluated the correlations of ictal onset zone and irritative zone with the magnetic resonance imaging-visible lesion (MRI-lesion) and their histopatho-logical features. Intracranial-video EEG located the ictal onset zone adjacent to the MRI-lesion margin in four patients with complex/simple forms of DNT subcategory, and on the MRI-lesion in P3 with a nonspecific DNT form. The irritative zone extended to surrounding regions of the ictal onset zone in all patients. Histopathologically, MRI-lesions were characterized by specific glioneuronal elements, whereas the ictal onset zone and irritative zone were represented with dysplastic cortex accompanying oligodendroglia-like cells in four (P1, P2, P4, and P5) of five patients. Cortical dysplasia was identified with typical histopathologic features in the irritative zone remote from the MRI-lesion in P5. P3, with a nonspecific form, indicated prominent component of dysplastic cortex with oligodendroglia-like cells scattered in the MRI-lesion. Lesionectomy of MRI-lesion with additional cortical resections (including the ictal onset zone and irritative zone) yielded postoperative seizure freedom (Engel Class I) in P3, P4, and P5, while P1 and P2 (with only lesionectomy) experienced postoperative residual seizure (Class II and III in each patient). Our results suggest the intrinsic epileptogenicity of DNT. The topographical correlation indicated that the dysplastic cortex accompanying oligodendroglia-like cells was more epileptogenic than the specific glioneuronal elements itself. Meticulous intracranial-video EEG analysis delineating the MRI nonvisible ictal onset zone and the irritative zone may yield better seizure outcome.

Novel Software for Performing Leksell Stereotactic Surgery without the Use of Printing Films: Technical Note.

Hospitals in Japan have recently begun to employ the DICOM viewer system on desktop or laptop monitors. However, conventional embedding surgery for deep-brain stimulation with the Leksell stereotactic system (LSS) requires printed X-ray films for defining the coordination, coregistration of actual surgical films with the reference coordinates, and validation of the needle trajectories. While just performing these procedures on desktop or laptop monitors, the authors were able to develop novel software to facilitate complete digital manipulation with the Leksell frame without printing films. In this study, we validated the practical use of LSS, and benefit of this software in the Takanobashi Central Hospital and Kagoshima University Hospital.