METHODS: A control group of hypertensive patients only, and an investigated group of hypertensive HS patients. Fundoscopic examination to determine the grade of retinopathy was performed and then divided into low or high severity hypertensive retinopathy. Clinical and radiological parameter included are demography, vital signs, Glasgow coma scale (GCS) on admission, clot volume, site of clot, Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) score and Glasgow outcome scale (GOS). Data were correlated with the severity of hypertensive retinopathy.
RESULTS: Fifty patient in the control group and 51 patients in the investigated group were recruited. In the hypertensive HS group, 21 had low severity retinopathy (no or mild retinopathy) accounting for 41.2% and 30 patients had high severity (moderate or severe retinopathy). In the hypertensive patients 49 had low severity and one had high severity (p-value of 0.001). In HS group low severity showed better GCS score of 9-15 on admission (p-value of 0.003), clot volume less than 30 mL (p-value 0.001), and also a better 30 days mortality rate by using the ICH score (p-value 0.006), GOS score of 4 and 5 the low severity retinopathy fair better than the high severity retinopathy (p-value of 0.001), and the relative risk to develop HS in low severity and high severity retinopathy was 0.42 and 29.4, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Hypertensive retinopathy screening could be used as an indicator in hypertensive patient, to evaluate the risk of developing hypertensive HS in the future.
METHODS: A total of 30 patients' data with clipped anterior circulation intracranial aneurysms admitted to the hospital between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2014, were collected from the hospital's electronic database. The data collected included patients' admissions demographic profiles, Fisher, Navarro and WFNS scores; and their immediate pre- and post-operative CTP parameters.
RESULTS: This study found a significant increase in post-operative MTT (pre- and post-operative MTT) were 9.75 (SD = 1.31) and 10.44 (SD = 1.56) respectively, (P < 0.001)) as well as a significant reduction in post-operative CBF (pre- and post-operative mean CBF were 195.29 (SD = 24.92) and 179.49 (SD = 31.17) respectively (P < 0.001)). There were no significant differences in CBV. There were no significant correlations between the pre- and post-operative CTP parameters and Fisher, Navarro or WFNS scores.
CONCLUSION: Despite the interest in using Fisher, Navarro and WFNS scores to predict vasospasm and patient outcomes for ruptured intracranial aneurysms, this study found no significant correlations between these scores in either pre- or post-operative CTP parameters. These results explain the disagreement in the field regarding the multiple proposed grading systems for vasospasm prediction. CTP measures more than just anatomical structures; therefore, it is more sensitive towards minor changes in cerebral perfusion that would not be detected by WFNS, Fisher or Navarro scores.
Methods: A prospective cohort study of all patients in Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who presented with the clinical diagnosis of a large MCA infarction within 48 h of onset were subjected to CT brain, and CTP scans on admission and were followed up to determine the development of malignant infarction requiring surgical decompression.
Results: CTP parameters were generally lower in patients with malignant brain infarct (MBI) group compared to the nonMBI group. The largest mean difference between the group was noted in the TTP values (P = 0.005). CTP parameters had a comparable positive predictive value (83%-90%) and high net present value (88-93). CBF with cutoff value of >32.85 of the hemisphere could accurately predict malignant infarctions in 81.4% of cases. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of more than 13.5 was also found to be able to accurately determine malignant infarct (97.6%). Functional outcome of patients based on Glasgow outcome scale was similar on discharge, however, showed improvement at 6 months during reviewed base on modified Rankin scale (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: CTP parameters should be included in the initial evaluation of patients to predict malignant brain infarction and facilitate surgical treatment of large MCA infarctions.
Key messages: CT perfusion parameters have an important role in predicting malignant brain infarction and should be included in the initial evaluation of patients to facilitate the early identification and surgical treatment of large middle cerebral artery infarctions, to improve patient's prognosis.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 22 cases of glioma diagnosed intraoperatively from January 2013 until August 2019 in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. The selected tissues were processed for cytology smear and frozen section. The remaining tissues were proceeded for paraffin section. The diagnosis was categorized as either low-grade or high-grade glioma based on cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, mitotic count, microvascular proliferation and necrosis. The sensitivity and specificity of frozen section and cytology smears were determined based on paraffin section being as the gold standard. The accuracy of both techniques was compared using statistical analysis.
RESULTS: The overall sensitivity and specificity of cytology smear were 100% and 76.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, the sensitivity and specificity of frozen section were 100% and 84.6%. There was no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between cytology smear and frozen section in glioma (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION: Cytology smears provides an alternative method for frozen section due to good cellularity and morphology on smear. Cytology smear is rapid, inexpensive, small amount of tissue requirement and less technical demand. This finding may benefit to the hospital or treatment centres where frozen section facility is unavailable.
Case Description: A patient with cervical stenosis secondary to metastatic tumor in the intradural and extradural compartments presented with lower limb paraparesis. She underwent an uneventful tumor excision accompanied by posterior cervical decompression and fusion. Postoperatively, she was quadriplegic and required ventilator support. The emergent postoperative MR scan revealed focal hyperintensity on the T2-weighted image consistent with spinal cord edema extending into the lower brain stem.
Conclusion: Very few cases of reperfusion injury of the cervical spinal cord or "white cord syndrome" are described in the literature. Here we present a patient who, following cervical laminectomy and fusion for excision of metastatic tumor, developed quadriplegia. Notably, postoperative MR showed only findings of upper cervical cord and lower brain stem edema consistent with a "white cord syndrome" without other compressive pathology.
Methods: All patients admitted into our centre were screened for eligibility and those who underwent surgery from September 2016 to September 2017 had a D-dimer screening after surgery, followed by an ultrasound Doppler if the former was positive. The choice of anticoagulant therapy was not influenced by this study, and observation of the use was in keeping with usual practices in our centre was done.
Results: A total number of 331 patients were recruited in this study, however, after the inclusion and exclusion criteria had been met, 320 patients remained eligible, i.e. suitable for analysis. The mean age of our patients was 46 years, with 66% being male patients. A majority of the cases in this study were cranial related, with only 5% being spine surgeries. On the multivariate analysis, the Well's score and the number of days in bed remained statistically significant, after adjusting for age group, gender, ethnicity, type of central venous access and type of DVT prophylaxis with an adjusted odd's ratio, and a confidence interval of 95%, and P < 0.05 for each.
Conclusion: Well's scoring and number of days in bed were independent factors affecting the rate of DVT in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures in our centre.
METHODS: In this series, we looked into nine cases of CM with syringomyelia from clinical and radiological perspective before and after surgery. The radiological parameters were herniated tonsillar length, syrinx: cord ratio, syrinx length and diameter. Flow velocity and morphologic changes in Chiari were illustrated.
RESULTS: Seven patients showed either reduction in syrinx length, syrinx: cord ratio or both postoperatively. Clinical recovery somewhat varied in motor and sensory symptoms. Four patients gained better functional grade in modified Rankin scale (MRS) while the rest remained similar. The study highlighted the advantage of CSF flow dynamics information over MR anatomical radiographic improvement in addressing the neurologic and functional recovery. We also discussed the practicality of cine sequence in preoperative patient selection, syrinx analysis and postoperative flow evaluation in anticipation of clinical outcome.
CONCLUSION: Phase-contrast cine MRI is a useful tool dictated by resource availability. We recommend its routine use in preoperative analysis and subsequent observational follow-up after surgery.
CASE DESCRIPTION: Following induction of general anesthesia and subsequent opening of the craniotomy flap it was noted that the patient had a very swollen brain that herniated out of the dural defect. There was an underlying spontaneous intraparenchymal bleed encountered in the region of the left temporal lobe with associated subarachnoid hemorrhage within the sylvian fissure. The clot was evacuated and subsequently brain swelling reduced allowing us to proceed with the intended surgery. Despite the intracranial findings there was no overt abnormality in the hemodynamic status from the time of induction of anesthesia to the craniotomy opening excepting a mild nonsustained elevation of blood pressure at the outset.
CONCLUSION: This case is of interest due to the fact that spontaneous intraparenchymal bleeding after induction of anesthesia has not been reported before in literature and should be considered in any patient in which brain swelling occurs in a setting of elective neurosurgery in which the primary lesion does not cause elevated intracranial pressure.
METHODS: A retrospective case review study was conducted to compare patients treated with medical therapy and decompressive surgery for malignant MCA infarction in Hospital Kuala Lumpur over a period of 5 years (from January 2007 to December 2012). A total of 125 patients were included in this study; 90 (72%) patients were treated with surgery, while 35 (28%) patients were treated with medical therapy. Outcome was assessed in terms of mortality rate at 30 days, Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) on discharge, and modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 3 and 6 months.
RESULTS: Decompressive craniectomy resulted in a significant reduction in mortality rate at 30 days (P < 0.05) and favorable GOS outcome at discharge (P < 0.05). Good functional outcome based on mRS was seen in 48.9% of patients at 3 months and in 64.4% of patients at 6 months (P < 0.05). Factors associated with good outcome include infarct volume of less than 250 ml, midline shift of less than 10 mm, absence of additional vascular territory involvement, good preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, and early surgical intervention (within 24 h) (P < 0.05). Age and dominant hemisphere infarction had no significant association with functional outcome.
CONCLUSION: Decompressive craniectomy achieves good functional outcome in, young patients with good preoperative GCS score and favorable radiological findings treated with surgery within 24 h of ictus.