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Background and Importance: Superior oblique myokymia (SOM) is a rare, acquired aberration of the innervation of the superior oblique, resulting in episodic monocular contraction of the superior oblique muscle characterized by intermittent rotatory eye movement causing diplopia and oscillopsia. Several treatment modalities have been described to treat SOM, including medication and surgical interventions. There is a paucity of reports describing microvascular decompression (MVD) of the trochlear nerve near the root entry zone for the treatment of a neurovascular conflict. The authors describe a case report of a patient who presented with SOM by a supracerebellar infratentorial approach using microscopic and endoscopic visualization., Clinical Presentation: A 40-year-old woman presented with an 8-month history of rhythmic contractions of her right orbit with worsening double vision and occasional balance issues. Neuro-ophthalmological evaluation which revealed a right-sided SOM. MRI evaluation demonstrated a potential vascular compression by the superior cerebellar artery near the origin of the trochlear nerve. She underwent MVD by a supracerebellar infratentorial approach using microscopic and endoscopic visualization. The patient experienced resolution of her SOM in the immediate postoperative period and a Trochlear nerve palsy that resolved within 6 months., Conclusion: The endoscopic supracerebellar infratentorial approach for MVD of the trochlear nerve is a safe and efficacious approach that provides superior visualization of the trochlear nerve at its origin and in the setting of SOM. This approach shows outcomes comparable with those used in previously described cases., (Copyright © Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2025. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Woven EndoBridge (WEB) is a treatment modality available for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms, specifically beneficial in wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms. Conventional sizing methods rely on the manipulation of aneurysm width and height measurements. This results in frequent need for re-sizing after initial WEB insertion attempts. Previous studies have suggested that volume-based sizing may decrease this rate., Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study in three complex vascular centers in the United States from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2023. All patients who underwent attempted aneurysmal WEB embolization were included. Using three-dimensional angiogram reconstructions, we measured the aneurysm volume. We calculated the WEB volume and measured the WEB-aneurysm volume (WAVe) ratio. The primary outcome was whether a WEB required re-sizing., Results: A total of 133 cases were identified, 114 correctly sized and 19 incorrectly sized. Twelve patients (9.0%) required additional stent placement during WEB insertion. One patient (0.8%) had WEB abandonment. There were no differences in demographic or baseline characteristics between the size/re-sizing cohorts aside from aneurysm location ("other" and basilar locations increased the rate of re-sizing). The median WAVe ratio in our appropriately sized cohort was 0.997 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.826, 1.30) versus 1.14 in our re-sizing cohort (IQR 0.734, 1.51; p  = 0.728). Using logistic regression, we identified a WAVe ratio ranging from 0.76 to 1.24 yielding > 80% probability of a successful sizing with 95% confidence., Conclusions: Incorporating volume-based measurements in aneurysm embolization with WEBs may improve rates of re-sizing but has an unclear effect on aneurysm occlusion. A WAVe ratio of 0.76-1.24 provides the greatest probability of appropriate initial WEB sizing., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsCompeting interests: EP: None. JHW: None. AAB: None. GJR: None. SS: None. JVJ: None. TS: None. PY: None. JMD: Stock options: Synchron, Cerebrotech, QAS.AI; Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events: Medtronic, Rapid Medical; Support for attending meetings and/or travel: Medtronic, Rapid Medical; Patents planned, issued or pending: QAS.AI; Participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board: NIH NIHDS Strokenet. AHS: Financial Interest/Investor/Stock Options/Ownership: Adona Medical, Bend IT Technologies, BlinkTBI, Borvo Medical, Cerebrotech Medical Systems, Code Zero Medical, Cognition Medical, Collavidence, CVAID, E8, Endostream Medical, Galaxy Therapeutics, Hyperion Surgical, Imperative Care, InspireMD, Instylla, Launch NY, Neurolutions, NeuroRadial Technologies (sold to Medtronic in 2021), Neurovascular Diagnostics, Peijia Medical, PerFlow Medical, Piraeus Medical, Q’Apel Medical, QAS.ai, Radical Catheter Technologies, Rebound Therapeutics Corp (purchased 2019 by Integra Lifesciences Corp), Rist Neurovascular (purchased 2020 by Medtronic), Sense Diagnostics, Serenity Medical, Silk Road Medical, Sim & Cure, Spinnaker Medical, StimMed, Synchron, Tulavi Therapeutics, Vastrax, Viseon, Whisper Medical, Willow Medtech, Consultant/Advisory Board: Amnis Therapeutics, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Boston Scientific, Canon Medical Systems USA, Cardinal Health 200, Cerebrotech Medical Systems, Cerenovus, Cordis, Corindus, Endostream Medical, Hyperfine Operations, Imperative Care, InspireMD, Integra, IRRAS AB, Medtronic, MicroVention, Minnetronix Neuro, Peijia Medical, Penumbra, Piraeus Medical, Q’Apel Medical, Rapid Medical, Serenity Medical, Silk Road Medical, StimMed, Stryker Neurovascular, VasSol, Viz.ai; National PI/Steering Committees: Cerenovus EXCELLENT and ARISE II Trial; Medtronic SWIFT PRIME, VANTAGE, EMBOLISE and SWIFT DIRECT Trials; MicroVention FRED Trial & CONFIDENCE Study; MUSC POSITIVE Trial; Penumbra 3D Separator Trial, COMPASS Trial, INVEST Trial, MIVI Neuroscience EVAQ Trial; Rapid Medical SUCCESS Trial; InspireMD C-GUARDIANS IDE Pivotal Trial; Patent: Patent No. US 11,464,528 B2, Date: October 11, 2022, Clot Retrieval System for Removing Occlusive Clot from a Blood Vessel, Applicant and Assignee: Neuravi Limited (Galway), Role: Co-Inventor. EIL: Consulting fees: Clarion, GLG Consulting, Guidepoint Global, Imperative Care, Medtronic, StimMed, Misionix, Mosiac; Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers’ bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events: Medtronic, Penumbra, MicroVention, Integra; Patents planned, issued or pending: Ultrasonic Surgical Blade; Participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board: Stryker (AIS Clinical Advisory Board), NeXtGen Biologics, MEDX, Cognition Medical; Endostream Medical, IRRAS AB; Leadership or fiduciary role in other board, society, committee or advocacy group, paid or unpaid: CNS, ABNS, UBNS: Stock or stock options (shareholder or ownership interest): NeXtGen Biologics, RAPID Medical, Claret Medical, Cognition Medical, Imperative Care, Rebound Therapeutics, StimMed, Three Rivers Medical; Other financial or non-financial interests: Haniva Medical Technology (Chief Medical Officer); Medtronic (National PI: Steering Committee for SWIFT Prime and SWIFT Direct trials; Site PI: STRATIS Study Sub 1), MicroVention (Site PI: CONFIDENCE Study). WRG: None. MM: Grants: NIH; Consultant: Balt, Cerenovus, Medtronic, Rapid Pulse; Stock options: Bendit Technologies, Borvo Medical, BrainQ, Endostream, Radical Catheter Technologies, Serenity Medical, Synchron, Sim&Cure, QAS.AI, Quantanosis.AI; Payment for expert testimony: Foley Mansfield, Huff Powell Bailey. KV: Consultant: Imperative Care, MicroVention.

Objective: The endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) has evolved into an established technique in skull base surgery. The authors previously examined 1002 EEA procedures and reported factors associated with postoperative complications. Here they report the development and validation of a scoring model based on risk factors to better predict complications following EEA., Methods: The authors developed an optimized EEA scoring model for predicting postoperative complications as evidenced by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve using their previously published data in addition to data collected from the subsequent 292 EEA procedures from years 2010-2020. The model was built systematically by evaluating the contributions that different variables had on the overall predictive ability of the model. The aim was to design a model containing as few variables as possible for practicality and to facilitate calculation and use at the bedside. The Clavien-Dindo grading system was used to classify complications into grades I-V based on the level of intervention that was required to manage the complication, with grades III-V considered to be higher-grade (i.e., those requiring reoperation or ICU-level care or death)., Results: The authors identified 1294 EEA operations performed between July 2010 and July 2020 that met their inclusion criteria. Higher-grade complications were identified following 135 EEA operations. The variables that were ultimately included in the model were age, BMI, operative time, meningioma, chordoma, expanded intradural approach, and nasoseptal flap use. The final model yielded an acceptable AUROC curve of 0.72 and predicted a stepwise increase in the rate of higher-grade complications as the score increased. A score of 0-2 (low) on the grading system was associated with an average complication rate of 5.1%. A score of 3-5 (medium) was associated with an average complication rate of 12.6%. A score of 6 or above (high) was associated with an average complication rate of 26%., Conclusions: This EEA complications scoring model accurately categorizes patients into low-, medium-, and high-risk groups with readily obtained variables. A high score in this complications model does not suggest that a patient is ineligible for surgery, but rather highlights the importance of thorough case selection, operating with caution, and appropriate preoperative counseling.

Background: Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a rare neoplasm that arises from tissues of embryonic mesodermal origin. Primary tissues of origin can include smooth muscle cells of the abdominopelvic viscera, blood vessels, or arrector pili muscles. LMS is known to metastasize to the lungs, with few reported cases of spread to the central nervous system., Observations: A 66-year-old male with cutaneous LMS of the left forearm with metastases to the lungs and kidney that had been treated with chemoradiation presented with worsening headaches. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a sellar lesion. An endocrine workup was unremarkable. Imaging over 6 months revealed rapid interval growth. Positron emission tomography demonstrated moderate uptake. Given the rapid growth, the patient was offered an endoscopic endonasal approach for resection. Pathology confirmed LMS., Lessons: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first documented case of LMS metastasis to the sella. Pituitary carcinoma or metastases to the sellar region should be in the differential among patients with sellar region tumors with a rapid growth rate, bony erosion, or findings of lesions in the upper cervical lymph nodes or soft tissue. Tumors that show significant interval growth should raise suspicion for nonadenomatous lesions, and surgical intervention should be considered even in the absence of endocrinological dysfunction or cranial neuropathies. https://thejns.org/doi/10.3171/CASE2435.

Objective: Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) after stroke is a devastating neurological complication. Current guidelines support a "possible benefit" of decompressive craniectomy (DC) for large supratentorial sICH with significant mass effect., Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective study of 8 comprehensive stroke centers. They included all patients who sustained an sICH after acute ischemic stroke (AIS), as defined by the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke-Monitoring Study (SITS-MOST), from January 2016 to December 2020. They compared patients who underwent DC to those who were treated with standard medical treatment to measure functional outcome at 90 days, primarily as defined by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and secondarily by the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E)., Results: Eighty-five patients were identified, 26 of whom (30.5%) underwent DC. Patients who underwent DC were younger (58 years [DC] vs 76 years [no DC], p < 0.001). No patient with a previous history of cancer underwent DC (n = 14, p = 0.004). Twenty-five patients (96.2%) in the DC group underwent thrombectomy versus 54 (91.5%) in the non-DC group (p = 0.443). Patients who underwent DC had a longer ICU stay (median [IQR] 240 [38-408] hours vs 24 [5-96] hours in non-DC patients, p = 0.002). At 90 days, 3 patients (4.1%) had obtained an mRS score of 0-2 and 10 patients (11.7%) an mRS score of 0-3. Patients who had improved functional outcome were younger (mRS score, OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.10, p = 0.012). Patients with a history of cancer had worse 90-day mRS scores (OR 8.49, 95% CI 1.54-159, p = 0.046). The rate of in-hospital mortality or discharge to hospice was significantly higher in the non-DC cohort (10 [38.5%] patients in the DC cohort vs 38 [64.4%] in the non-DC cohort, p = 0.026). Ninety days later, patients who underwent DC were more likely to have improved outcome (mRS mean rank 30.0 vs 40.0, p = 0.027). In multivariable analysis, history of cancer (OR 12.2, 95% CI 1.26-118, p = 0.031) and older age (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.13, p = 0.011) increased the odds of worse mRS outcomes while DC did not (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.357-5.03, p = 0.665)., Conclusions: DC after sICH did not improve functional outcome at 90 days according to multivariable analysis, although younger age and absence of previous cancer history were associated with improved outcomes.

Given their rarity, the clinical course of patients undergoing trigeminal schwannoma (TS) resection remains understudied. The objective of this study is to describe clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients undergoing surgical resection for TS in a multi-institutional cohort. This is a retrospective study of patients undergoing TS resection at two institutions between 2004 and 2022. Patient, radiographic, and clinical characteristics were reviewed and analyzed with standard statistical methods. Thirty patients were included. The median patient age was 43 (IQR: 35-52) years, and 14 (47%) patients were female. Median clinical and radiographic follow-ups were 43 (IQR: 20-81) and 47 (IQR: 27-97) months respectively. The most common presenting symptoms were trigeminal hypesthesia (57%) and headaches (30%), diplopia (30%), and ataxia/cerebellar signs (30%). The median maximum tumor diameter was 3.3 (IQR: 2.5-5.4) cm. Most tumors were Samii type C (50%) and mixed cystic-solid (63%). Surgical approaches included endoscopic endonasal (33%), supratentorial (30%), combined/staged (20%), infratentorial (10%), and anterior petrosal (7%) approaches. Gross-total resection was achieved in 16 (53%) patients. Radiographic tumor recurrence was noted in four patients at a median of 79 (range 5-152) months. Twenty-six (87%) patients reported improvements in at least one symptom by last follow-up. The most common perioperative complication was new cranial nerve deficit, with 17% of patients having a transient deficit and 10% having a permanent cranial nerve deficit. Surgical resection of TS showed good progression-free survival and symptom improvement, but was associated with cranial nerve deficits., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: The primary goal of this study was to establish the current microbial trends in vertebral osteomyelitis/discitis (VOD) amid the opioid epidemic and to determine if intravenous drug use (IVDU) predisposes one to a unique microbial profile of infection., Methods: The authors performed a retrospective cohort study consisting of 1175 adult patients diagnosed with VOD between 2011 and 2022 at a single quaternary center. Data were acquired through retrospective chart review, with pertinent demographic and clinical information collected., Results: Staphylococcus aureus was the most cultured organism in both the IVDU and non-IVDU groups at 56.1% and 40.7%, respectively. In the IVDU cohort, Serratia marcescens was the next most prevalently cultured organism at 13.9%., Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that in the IVDU population S. marcescens is an organism of high concern. The potential for Serratia spp. infection should be accounted for when selecting empirical antimicrobial therapy in VOD patients.

Background: Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare malignancy accounting for 0.4% of intracranial tumors. HPCs are characterized by local aggressiveness, high rates of recurrence, and a tendency to metastasize to extracranial sites. These features make management of HPCs challenging, often requiring a combination of radical resection and radiation. Given their rarity, optimal treatment algorithms remain undefined., Observations: The authors report a series of four patients who underwent resection of intracranial HPC. Mean age at presentation was 49.3 years. Three patients had reoperation for progression of residual tumor, and one patient was surgically retreated for recurrence. One patient received adjuvant radiotherapy following initial resection, and three patients received adjuvant radiotherapy following resection of recurrent or residual disease. There was one death in the series. Average progression-free survival and overall survival following the index procedure were 32.8 and 82 months, respectively. Progression occurred locally in all patients, with metastatic recurrence in one patient., Lessons: The current gold-standard treatment for intracranial HPC consists of gross-total resection followed by radiation therapy. This approach allows satisfactory local control; however, given the tendency for these tumors to recur either locally or distally within or outside of the central nervous system, there is a need for salvage therapies to improve long-term outcomes for patients.

Objective: Osteodiscitis has been demonstrated to show significant morbidity and mortality. Cultures and CT guided biopsy (CTB) are commonly used diagnosis of osteodiscitis. This study's purpose is to evaluate the cost burden of CTB and to evaluate how IVDU affects patient management in the setting of osteodiscitis., Methods: Patients admitted for osteodiscitis from 2011-2021 were retrospectively reviewed and stratified into cohorts by CTB status. Additional cohorts were stratified by Intravenous Drug Use (IVDU). Patient demographics, total cost of hospitalization, length of hospitalization, time to biopsy, IVDU status, and other factors were recorded. T-Test, Chi-squared analysis, and ANOVA were used for statistical analysis., Results: Total cost of hospitalization was recorded for 140 patients without CTB and 346 patients with CTB. Average cost of hospitalization for non-CTB was $227,317.86 compared to CTB at $119,799.20 (p < 0.001). Length of stay (LOS) was found to be 18.01 days for non-CTB and 14.07 days for CTB patients (0.00282). When stratified by days until biopsy, patients who had CTB sooner, had significantly reduced cost of hospitalization (p = 0.0003). Patients with IVDU history were significantly younger (p < 0.001) with lower BMI (p < 0.001) and a significantly different clinical profile. There was a significant difference in positive open biopsy when separated by IVDU status (p = 0.025)., Conclusion: CTB was associated with significantly reduced cost of hospitalization and LOS compared to non-CTB. IVDU patients with osteodiscitis have significantly different clinical profiles than non-IVDU that may impact diagnosis and treatment. Further work is indicated to elucidate causes of these differences to provide high value care to patients with osteodiscitis., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objectives: Cranial robotics are a burgeoning field of neurosurgery. To date, all cranial robotic systems described have been computerized, arm-based instruments that take up significant space in the operating room. The Medtronic Stealth Autoguide robot has a smaller operating room footprint and offers multiaxial, frame-based surgical targeting. The authors set out to define the surgical characteristics of a novel robotic platform for brain biopsy in a large patient cohort., Methods: Patients who underwent stereotactic biopsy using the Stealth Autoguide cranial robotic platform from July 2020 to March 2023 were included in this study. Clinical, surgical, and histological data were collected and analyzed., Results: Ninety-six consecutive patients (50 female, 46 male) were included. The mean age at biopsy was 53.7 ± 18.0 years. The mean target depth was 68.2 ± 15.3 mm. The biopsy diagnostic tissue acquisition rate was 100%. The mean time from incision to biopsy tissue acquisition was 15.4 ± 9.9 minutes. Target lesions were located throughout the brain: in the frontal lobe (n = 32, 33.3%), parietal lobe (n = 21, 21.9%), temporal lobe (n = 22, 22.9%), deep brain nuclei/thalamus (n = 13, 13.5%), cerebellum (n = 7, 7.3%), and brainstem (n = 1, 1.0%). Most cases were gliomas (n = 75, 78.2%). Patients were discharged home on postoperative day 0 or 1 in 62.5% of cases. A total of 7 patients developed postoperative complications (7.2%)., Conclusion: This cranial robotic platform can be used for efficient, safe, and accurate cranial biopsies that allow for reliable diagnosis of intracranial pathology in a minimally invasive setting., (Copyright © Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2023. All rights reserved.)

Among patients with clinical hemifacial spasm (HFS), imaging exams aim to identify the neurovascular conflict (NVC) location. It has been proven that the identification in the preoperative exam increases the rate of surgical success. Despite the description of specific magnetic resonance image (MRI) acquisitions, the site of neurovascular compression is not always visualized. The authors describe a new MRI finding that helps in the diagnosis of HFS, and evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and interobserver correlation of the described sign. A cross-sectional study including cases of hemifacial spasm treated surgically from 1 August 2011 to 31 July 2021 was performed. The MRIs of the cases were independently evaluated by two experienced neuroradiologists, who were blinded regarding the side of the symptom. The neuroradiologists were assigned to evaluate the MRIs in two separate moments. Primarily, they evaluated whether there was a neurovascular conflict based on the standard technique. Following this initial analysis, the neuroradiologists received a file with the description of the novel sign, named Prevedello Sign (PS). In a second moment, the same neuroradiologists were asked to identify the presence of the PS and, if it was present, to report on which side. A total of 35 patients were included, mostly females (65.7%) with a mean age of 59.02 (+0.48). Since the 35 cases were independently evaluated by two neuroradiologists, a total of 70 reports were included in the analysis. The PS was present in 66 patients (sensitivity of 94.2%, specificity of 91.4% and positive predictive value of 90.9%). When both analyses were performed in parallel (standard plus PS), the sensitivity increased to 99.2%. Based on the findings of this study, the authors conclude that PS is helpful in determining the neurovascular conflict location in patients with HFS. Its presence, combined with the standard evaluation, increases the sensitivity of the MRI to over 99%, without increasing risks of harm to patients or resulting in additional costs.

This video presents the case of a 44-year-old male with a 2-year history of pain in the left upper extremity that had worsened over the course of the last 6 months with associated weakened grip strength and had extended into his right arm. T2-weighted sagittal and axial MRI demonstrated an expansive nonenhancing solid intramedullary lesion extending from C5 to T1. The patient underwent a C5-T1 laminectomy and laminoplasty with near-complete resection of the intradural intramedullary subependymoma. At 3 months' follow-up, he reported doing well and had experienced significant improvement in motor strength with ongoing therapies., Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this publication.The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this publication., (© 2023, The Authors.)

Background: Many clinicians associate nicotine as the causative agent in the negative and deleterious effects of smoking on bone growth and spine fusion. Although nicotine is the primary driver of physiological addiction in smoking, isolated and controlled use of nicotine is one of the most effective adjuncts to quitting smoking., Objective: To explore the relationship between nicotine and noncombustion cigarette products on bone growth., Methods: One thousand five studies were identified, of which 501 studies were excluded, leaving 504 studies available for review. Of note, 52 studies were deemed to be irrelevant. Four hundred fifty-two studies remained for eligibility assessment. Of the remaining 452, 218 failed to assess study outcomes, 169 failed to assess bone biology, 13 assessed 5 patients or fewer, and 12 were deemed to be ineligible of the study criteria. Forty studies remained for inclusion within this systematic review., Results: Of the 40 studies identified for inclusion within the study, 30 studies were classified as "Animal Basic Science," whereas the remaining 10 were categorized as "Human Basic Science." Of the 40 studies, 11 noted decreased cell proliferation and boney growth, whereas 8 showed an increase. Four studies noted an increase in gene expression products, whereas 11 noted a significant decrease., Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that nicotine has a variety of complex interactions on osteoblast and osteoclastic activities. Nicotine demonstrates dose-dependent effects on osteoblast proliferation, boney growth, and gene expression. Further study is warranted to extrapolate the effects of solitary nicotine on clinical outcomes., (Copyright © Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2023. All rights reserved.)

Cushing's adenoma invading the cavernous sinus requires aggressive resection to be cured. MRI is frequently inconclusive for identifying microadenomas, and visualizing the involvement of the medial cavernous sinus is even more challenging. In this video, the authors present a patient with an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-producing microadenoma with doubtful left medial cavernous sinus involvement on MRI. She underwent an endoscopic endonasal exploration of the medial compartment of the cavernous sinus. The abnormally thickened wall, confirmed by intraoperative endoscopic endonasal ultrasound, was safely excised using the "interdural peeling" technique. Complete resection of the tumor resulted in normalization of her postoperative cortisol levels and disease remission with no complications. The video can be found here: https://stream.cadmore.media/r10.3171/2023.4.FOCVID22150., Competing Interests: Disclosures Dr. Prevedello reported consulting for Stryker, Medtronic, BK Medical, and Integra LifeSciences; and royalties from KLS Martin, ACE Medical, and Mizuho.Dr. Prevedello reported consulting for Stryker, Medtronic, BK Medical, and Integra LifeSciences; and royalties from KLS Martin, ACE Medical, and Mizuho., (© 2023, The Authors.)

Background: Operative management of craniovertebral junction (CVJ) osteomyelitis has traditionally been extracranial and focused on debriding the infection. In select patients, the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) with a focus on additional resection versus debridement may be preferred. The goal of this study is to present the authors' experience with the EEA with gross or subtotal resection for the treatment of osteomyelitis at the CVJ and describe their technique in the context of the literature., Observations: Two patients of the authors' and 6 detailed case reports in the literature were identified with a mean age of 58.9 years. Most patients (n = 5; 62.5%) underwent skull base surgery and debridement (n = 5; 62.5%). Although more common, debridement was inferior to resection in terms of neurological improvement (66.7% vs. 100.0%) postoperatively. The majority (n = 7; 87.5%) of patients underwent occipitocervical fusion., Lessons: Osteomyelitis is an exceedingly rare lesion of the CVJ. Despite the region's delicate biomechanical stability, resection of infected bone may be superior to debridement alone in terms of clinical outcome. Given how well established the safety of the EEA is to this region, further study of outcomes with resection is warranted.

Background: Unplanned readmission after transsphenoidal resection of pituitary adenoma can occur in up to 10% of patients but is unpredictable., Objective: To develop a reliable system for predicting unplanned readmission and create a validated method for stratifying patients by risk., Methods: Data sets were retrospectively collected from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and 2 tertiary academic medical centers. Eight machine learning classifiers were fit to the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data, optimized using Bayesian parameter optimization and evaluated on the external data. Permutation analysis identified the relative importance of predictive variables, and a risk stratification system was built using the trained machine learning models., Results: Readmissions were accurately predicted by several classification models with an area under the receiving operator characteristic curve of 0.76 (95% CI 0.68-0.83) on the external data set. Permutation analysis identified the most important variables for predicting readmission as preoperative sodium level, returning to the operating room, and total operation time. High-risk and medium-risk patients, as identified by the proposed risk stratification system, were more likely to be readmitted than low-risk patients, with relative risks of 12.2 (95% CI 5.9-26.5) and 4.2 (95% CI 2.3-8.7), respectively. Overall risk stratification showed high discriminative capability with a C-statistic of 0.73., Conclusion: In this multi-institutional study with outside validation, unplanned readmissions after pituitary adenoma resection were accurately predicted using machine learning techniques. The features identified in this study and the risk stratification system developed could guide clinical and surgical decision making, reduce healthcare costs, and improve the quality of patient care by better identifying high-risk patients for closer perioperative management., (Copyright © Congress of Neurological Surgeons 2022. All rights reserved.)

Pituitary surgery has undergone rapid advancements in the last 30 years, secondary to improved surgical techniques and technologies, including those that allow endoscopic approaches. Although the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) offers minimally invasive access to the region of the pituitary gland, complications are a significant consideration for the combined otolaryngology-neurosurgery team that is preparing for a case. In this article, we discuss various complications related to the EEA in pituitary surgery and explore ways to plan for and avoid them during surgery., Competing Interests: Disclosure Dr. Prevedello has consulting relationships with Stryker, Integra, and BK Medical. He also receives royalties from technologies with KLS Martin, ACE Medical, and Mizuho. None of the other authors have disclosures., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)