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OBJECTIVETemporal lobectomy is a well-established treatment modality for the management of medically refractory epilepsy in appropriately selected patients. The aim of this study was to assess 30-day morbidity and mortality after temporal lobectomy in cases registered in a national database.METHODSA retrospective cohort analysis was conducted using a multiinstitutional surgical registry compiled between 2006 and 2014. The authors identified patients who underwent anterior temporal lobectomy and/or amygdalohippocampectomy for a primary diagnosis of intractable epilepsy. Univariate and multivariable analyses with regard to patient demographics, comorbidities, operative characteristics, and 30-day outcomes were applied.RESULTSA total of 216 patients were included in the study. The median age was 38 years and 46% of patients were male. The median length of stay was 3 days and the 30-day mortality rate was 1.4%. Fourteen patients (6.5%) developed at least one major complication. Return to the operating room was observed in 7 patients (3.2%). Readmission within 30 days and discharge to a location other than home were available for 2011–2014 (n = 155) and occurred in 11% and 10.3% of patients, respectively. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that increasing age was an independent predictor of discharge disposition other than home and that male sex was a significant risk factor for the development of a major complication. Interestingly, the presence of the attending neurosurgeon and a resident during the procedure was significantly associated with decreased odds of prolonged length of stay (i.e., > 75th percentile [5 days]) and discharge to a location other than home.CONCLUSIONSUsing a multiinstitutional surgical registry, 30-day outcome data after temporal lobectomy for medically intractable epilepsy demonstrates a mortality rate of 1.4%, a major complication rate of 6.5%, and a readmission rate of 11%. Temporal lobectomy is an extremely effective therapy for seizures originating there—however, surgical intervention must be weighed against its morbidity and mortality outcomes.

OBJECTIVEHypoplasia of the A1 segment of the anterior cerebral artery is frequently observed in patients with anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysms. The effect of this anatomical variant on ACoA aneurysm morphology is not well understood.METHODSDigital subtraction angiography images were reviewed for 204 patients presenting to the authors' institution with either a ruptured or an unruptured ACoA aneurysm. The ratio of the width of the larger A1 segment to the smaller A1 segment was calculated. Patients with an A1 ratio greater than 2 were categorized as having A1 segment hypoplasia. The relationship of A1 segment hypoplasia to both patient and aneurysm characteristics was then assessed.RESULTSOf 204 patients that presented with an ACoA aneurysm, 34 (16.7%) were found to have a hypoplastic A1. Patients with A1 segment hypoplasia were less likely to have a history of smoking (44.1% vs 62.9%, p = 0.0410). ACoA aneurysms occurring in the setting of a hypoplastic A1 were also found to have a larger maximum diameter (mean 7.7 vs 6.0 mm, p = 0.0084). When considered as a continuous variable, increasing A1 ratio was associated with decreasing aneurysm dome-to-neck ratio (p = 0.0289). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of A1 segment hypoplasia between ruptured and unruptured aneurysms (18.9% vs 10.7%; p = 0.1605).CONCLUSIONSOur results suggest that a hypoplastic A1 may affect the morphology of ACoA aneurysms. In addition, the relative lack of traditional risk factors for aneurysm formation in patients with A1 segment hypoplasia argues for the importance of hemodynamic factors in the formation of ACoA aneurysms in this anatomical setting.

OBJECTIVEThe mechanism by which greater institutional case volume translates into improved outcomes after surgical clipping of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) is not well established. The authors thus aimed to assess the effect of case volume on the rate of various types of complications after clipping of UIAs.METHODSUsing information on the outcomes of inpatient admissions for surgical clipping of UIAs collected within a national database, the relationship of institutional case volume to the incidence of different types of complications after clipping was investigated. Complications were subdivided into different categories, which included all complications, ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, medical complications, infectious complications, complications related to anesthesia, and wound complications. The relationship of case volume to different types of complications was assessed using linear regression analysis. The relationships between case volume and overall complication and stroke rates were fit with both linear and quadratic equations. The numerical cutoff for institutional case volume above and below which the authors found the greatest differences in mean overall complication and stroke rate was determined using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis.RESULTSBetween October 2012 and September 2015, 125 health care institutions reported patient outcomes from a total of 6040 cases of clipping of UIAs. On linear regression analysis, increasing case volume was negatively correlated to both overall complications (r2 = 0.046, p = 0.0234) and stroke (r2 = 0.029, p = 0.0557) rate, although the relationship of case volume to the complication (r2 = 0.092) and stroke (r2 = 0.067) rate was better fit with a quadratic equation. On CART analysis, the cutoff for the case number that yielded the greatest difference in overall complications and stroke rate between higher- or lower-volume centers was 6 cases/year and 3 cases/year, respectively.CONCLUSIONSAlthough the authors confirm that increasing case volume is associated with reduced complications after clipping of UIAs, their results suggest that the relationship between case volume and complications is not necessarily linear. Moreover, these results indicate that the effect of case volume on outcome is most evident between very-low-volume centers relative to centers with a medium-to-high volume.

OBJECTIVE Hypoplasia of the A