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Kernohan–Woltman notch phenomenon (KWNP) is a false localising sign which may still cause diagnostic confusion. It was first described by Kernohan and Woltman in 1929, through post-mortem studies on 297 patients following cases of false localisation. They proposed that raised intracranial pressure causes uncal herniation, which can compress the contralateral cerebral peduncle against the tough tentorium, manifesting as hemiparesis ipsilateral to the primary brain lesion. A number of case reports have been written since the original description of this phenomenon, primarily secondary to intracranial bleeds, and little has been written about long-term outcome of patients who develop KNWP. We performed a literature search of all published cases of KWNP, and reviewed its clinical, pathophysiological, imaging and neurophysiological characteristics. Furthermore, we summarise the long-term outcomes of these patients as described by case reports, with the aim to improve understanding of rehabilitation potential. Thirty-eight cases were found through a PubMed search. We also included a case from our own Trust, making the total number of cases in the analysis 39. Thirty-six cases were secondary to intracranial bleeds (22 of which were traumatic), the remainder were due to an arachnoid cyst, high grade glioma, and reabsorption bone syndrome. Additional clinical manifestations to hemibrachiocrural syndrome included third nerve palsy, mydriasis of the contralateral and ipsilateral pupils, facial nerve palsies, and parkinsonism. Twenty-six (67%) patients had improvement in motor function of varying degrees, with twelve (31%) patients attaining complete motor recovery or independence. More studies on long-term outcome of patients who develop KWNP are needed to understand rehabilitation potential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present a case of multiple malignant melanoma metastases in the brain who is leading a normal life 16 years after the brain secondaries were managed by surgical resection, stereotactic radiation and chemotherapy. The primary lesion in the left upper arm was excised 4 years prior to the brain metastases. His most recent MRI shows him to be disease free. To the best of our knowledge, this is longest survival reported of any patient with multiple brain metastases from malignant melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilization of operating theatre time is an important issue in neurosurgery, in a National Health Service Hospital. NHS Trusts are under ever increasing pressure to meet specified 'targets' in relation to admissions and operations. We performed a retrospective audit on the utilization of neurosurgical operating theatres at Royal Preston Hospital, analysed the times required for various common neurosurgical operations, and broke them down into clinical (operating and anaesthetic) and non-clinical times. We have also looked at the adequacy of available theatre sessions, and the under or over-running of available theatre sessions. A detailed time-based evaluation of 810 procedures over a 16-month period is presented. The mean and 80th centile of the time taken for anaesthesia, surgery and other non-clinical activities are described along with the total time spent in theatre for common neurosurgical procedures. The mean times for transit, preparation for anaesthesia, preparation for surgery, recovery in theatre and time between cases were 16, 13, 14, 15 and 8 minutes, respectively. The mean time duration between the end of one surgical procedure and the beginning of the next was 101 minutes. It was found that actual operating time was surprisingly only 56% of the time available. These data could be used to schedule operating theatre sessions for neurosurgery in the UK, as we believe our practice to be representative of a majority of units in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparison is made between ventriculoperitoneal (VP) and ventriculoatrial (VA) shunting in an adult population. Forty-nine patients with VA shunts and 73 with VP shunts, as well as six with a combination of the two, in total 128, were reviewed. Sixty-eight complications were encountered in 168 operations (40.5%). There were two deaths. The infection rate was 2.5%. Distal tube blockage occurred after five out of 109 VP shunt operations (79 patients), while four blockages occurred in 59 VA shunts (55 patients). In addition, six peritoneal catheters escaped from the peritoneal cavity requiring revision. We found the complication rate involving the distal end of the shunt to be similar between the two types, but favour the ventriculoperitoneal shunting because of the ease of placement and the lesser severity of potential complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a case of an elderly lady with a symptomatic large intra-axial right frontoparietal arachnoid cyst displacing the corticospinal tract (CST) posteromedially on diffusion tensor imaging. This information assisted the surgeons in confirming the symptomatic nature of the lesion, in planning an appropriate surgical procedure, as well as in prognostication of recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented concerning the response of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons to the Chief Medical officers' call for ideas.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Myxopapillary ependymoma with intracranial metastases," G. Higgins, C. Smith, D. Summers, P. Statham and S. Erridge, that was published in a 2005 issue of "British Journal of Neurosurgery."

Sphenoid sinus mucoceles behave as mass lesions producing erosion of adjacent bone and cranial nerve palsies. The probable cause is obstruction of the ostia of the sinus. We describe a case which was 'cured' inadvertently by a nasal polypectomy.

CT-guided stereotactic biopsy is now an accepted method of tissue sampling in intracranial mass lesions but many surgeons still practise freehand burrhole biopsy. This study compares two groups of patients who had either stereotactically guided (n = 153) or freehand (n = 217) biopsy. Stereotactic biopsy has a lower incidence of both mortality (2.6%) and morbidity (1.3%) than freehand (7.8 and 7.8%) while diagnostic accuracy is 92.1 and 64.9%, respectively. The success rate for stereotactic biopsy is independent of the size and depth of the lesion while freehand biopsy is most successful for large, superficial lesions but its success never exceeds 88%. The stereotactic technique is superior to the freehand for all intracranial biopsies regardless of size or site.

Although it has been known for a long time that pronounced hypothermia has a protective effect on the brain during ischemia, and that severe hyperthermia damages neuronal tissue, knowledge of human brain temperature is very limited. The recent findings by two independent research groups, that even small differences in brain temperature significantly influence the degree of neuronal damage following cerebral ischemia, became the incentive for measuring brain temperature in neurosurgical patients. The temperature of the lateral ventricle, epidural space, membrana tympani and rectum were measured with copper-constantan thermocouples. During the implantation of an intraventricular catheter for measuring intracranial pressure, a temperature gradient of 0.4-1.0 degrees C between the lateral ventricle and the epidural space was noted. Continuous measurements for 1-5 days showed that the rectal temperature usually adequately reflects the temperature of the epidural space, although the temperature of the membrana tympani followed changes in epidural temperature more closely. However, at times, and in one patient during most of the time, the temperature of the epidural space was up to 1 degree C above rectal temperature. The relevance of these findings for the care of neurosurgical patients is discussed in relationship to what is known about brain temperature from animal experiments.

All complications in a consecutive series of 648 patients subjected to prolonged recording of the ventricular fluid pressure (VFP) during 1982-1986 were registered and analysed. The procedure did not cause permanent symptoms or deficits in any case except for one haemorrhagic complication. Definite infections caused by the VFP recording were found in 4.3% of the 540 patients (83%) surviving their disease or lesion, and in 1.9% in non-survivors. These infections were almost exclusively registered in patients treated with prolonged drainage of hemorrhagic ventricular fluid, while definite infections in other patients were found in only 1.3%. Most infections were caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis and all infections could be treated successfully. Infection did not cause or contribute to the lethal outcome in any case. In 60% of the cases with infectious complications laboratory signs of ventriculitis occurred after a surgical revision of the ventriculostomy. The duration of VFP recording was of subordinate importance for the development of infection. In 13 patients (1.9%) during the studied period a reliable VFP recording was not obtained, a fact that points to the need for alternative methods in a minority of patients with elevated intracranial pressure. It is concluded that complications caused by VFP recording can be kept at an acceptably low frequency in patients without haemorrhagic cerebrospinal fluid demanding long-term drainage.

The aetiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of post-traumatic syringomyelia is discussed. The data collected from clinical observation, radiodiagnostic methods, and operative findings are illustrated. It is concluded that at least five different processes may contribute to this progressive disease. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms could help in patient management.