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Abstract Background The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a Central African country with the second largest surface area and the fourth largest population on the continent. DRC has witnessed numerous innovations and faced several challenges including health, economic, and social crises. Research question This historical review aims to outline major developments in DRC neurosurgical practice with an emphasis on challenges and potential solutions. Material and methods This historical review was compiled using data from stakeholder interviews, grey literature (health policy and event documentation at the hospital, provincial, and national levels) and peer-reviewed document analysis. The authors used triangulation to verify the data collected by each method and the final data were abstracted and presented narratively. Results The first neurosurgery unit was established in the capital, Kinshasa, in 1979. This centre aimed to provide much needed neurosurgical services and training with the limited resources available at the time. As of July 2023, DRC has 19 neurosurgeons including 2 of female gender. Four neurosurgeons from the diaspora deliver care part-time supplementing the local specialist workforce and 7 residents are enrolled at the University of Kinshasa residency programme. In addition, there are at least 22 DRC residents training in other centres worldwide. Conclusions DRC neurosurgery has faced numerous challenges, some of which have been overcome in the past decade. The recent improvements are encouraging for this country of more than 95 million inhabitants but more effort and time will be needed to fully overcome existing challenges.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of indocyanine green (ICG) angiography during full endoscopic microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia. Methods: We extracted retrospective data of patients who received ICG videoangiography during full endoscopic microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia. Preoperative neurovascular contact was evaluated by three-dimensional (3D) fusion images using image analysis software Ziostation2 (ZIOSOFT, Tokyo, Japan) and Intraoperative ICG angiography was used in pre and post ICG injection to identify and assess blood flow in the offending vessel for adequate transposition planification and assess for immediate post transposition blood flow or vasospasm respectively. Patients were assessed the next morning for early signs of brainstem infarction and at one month follow up. Results: There were 44 patients. All patients had ICG videoangiography done during the procedure. The mean age was 65.5 and male female ratio 3.4:1. Some anatomical variants were identified during this procedure. Five patients (11.3%) had a trigeminocerebellar artery, three patients (6.8%) had a developed superior petrosal vein and one patient (2.2%) had dural adhesions with encasement of anterior inferior cerebellar artery. Among the 44 patients enrolled, 34 had transposition done and 10 had combined transposition either with neurolysis or Teflon interposition. The main offending vessel was Superior cerebellar artery (SCA) in 23 patients (67.6%). In 5 (14.7%) of 34 patients who underwent Transposition, vasospasm was seen and no complications were observed in all patients but 93.1% had good pain control in postoperative. Conclusion: ICG angiography in endoscopic microvascular decompression is safe and effective in depicting the offending vessel, its branches and some perforators and contributes significantly to the determination of treatment strategy.

Abstract Background The glossopharyngeal nerve is both a sensitive and motor entity that emerges from the posterior lateral sulcus of the bulb and exits the skull through the jugular foramen. Schwannomas arising from glossopharyngeal nerves are extremely rare, and the clinical and imaging features of glossopharyngeal schwannomas closely resemble that of acoustic schwannomas. Case presentation We report a case of a 65-year-old female patient with glossopharyngeal neurinoma of incidental finding on brain CT scan requested after she sustained a minor traumatic brain injury. She was taken to the operating room, and the tumor was excised endoscopically via a retrosigmoid approach and the postoperative course was simple and uneventful. Histopathology of the sample showed short spindle-shaped cells with poor atypia proliferated in fascicles, and shelf-like arrangement of nuclei was seen partially, which was in keeping with a neurinoma. Conclusions Glossopharyngeal neurinoma may not present with obvious symptoms and signs related to its compression and may also be found incidentally compared to its counterpart vestibular schwannoma.

Background. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) imposes an enormous burden on health systems and it is the most frequent cause of hospitalization in children. This study aimed at describing the causes, presentation, management, and outcome of children with TBI admitted at a tertiary referral hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. Methods. This prospective cohort study was conducted with a convenience sample of children aged ≤ 12 years and admitted with TBI at the study site from June 2018 to May 2019. The children were followed from their admission to one-month post-discharge. Sociodemographic, clinical, and neuroimaging data were collected. The median length of stay was calculated and the Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Kruskal Wallis tests were used. Results. 84 children with TBI were recruited. Most were males (66.7%) and (56.0%) had sustained TBI following a motor vehicle accident. An initial period of loss of consciousness that lasted a median of 6.5 (IQR = 4.8) hours was noted in 60.7% of patients. The most common symptom at presentation was headache (61.9%), and mild TBI was the most common type of TBI. Skeletal injuries were the most encountered associated injuries (13.1%) and the majority of patients were managed non-operatively – 79 (94.0%). Most patients (56.0%) experienced upper good recovery at one-month follow-up. Conclusions. Motor vehicle accidents are the main cause of pediatric TBI in Zimbabwe. Most patients do not require surgical treatment and have a good recovery.

BackgroundLow-and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected by neurosurgical burden of disease. This health inequity causes constraints in decision-making. Neurosurgical ethics helps us to assess the moral acceptability and effectiveness of clinical decisions. We aimed to assess ethical neurosurgical care and its effect on patient satisfaction in Cameroon.MethodsTwo questionnaires hosted on Google Forms were administered among inpatients and staff at two Cameroonian neurosurgery centers. The questionnaires covered the factors influencing health outcomes and ethics. Data were collected from November 11, 2020, to March 11, 2021 and analyzed with SPSS v 26 to generate non-parametric tests with a threshold of significance at 0.05.ResultsSeventy patients and twenty healthcare providers responded to the survey. Most patients faced financial hardship (57.1%; 95% CI = 45.7–68.6%), and felt that this affected the care they received (P = 0.02). Patients noticed changes in the care plan and care delivery attributable to the neurosurgical units' lack of resources. According to the patients and caregivers, these changes happened 31.0–50.0% of the time (42.9%, 95% CI = 5.7–21.4%). The majority of patients were pleased with their involvement in the decision-making process (58.6%; 95% CI = 47.1–70.0%) and felt their autonomy was respected (87.1%; 95% CI = 78.6–94.3%).ConclusionMultiple challenges to neurosurgical ethical care were seen in our study. Multimodal interventions based on the four ethical principles discussed are necessary to improve ethical neurosurgical decision-making in this low resource setting.