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Objective: Few studies have addressed surgical resource utilization-surgical revisions and associated hospital admission days-following shunt insertion or endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) with or without choroid plexus cauterization (CPC) for CSF diversion in hydrocephalus. Study members of the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) investigated differences in surgical resource utilization between CSF diversion strategies in hydrocephalus in infants., Methods: Patients up to corrected age 24 months undergoing initial definitive treatment of hydrocephalus were reviewed from the prospectively maintained HCRN Core Data Project (Hydrocephalus Registry). Postoperative courses (at 1, 3, and 5 years) were studied for hydrocephalus-related surgeries (primary outcome) and hospital admission days related to surgical revision (secondary outcome). Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and compared using negative binomial regression, controlling for age, hydrocephalus etiology, and HCRN center. The study population was organized into 3 groups (ETV alone, ETV with CPC, and CSF shunt insertion) during the 1st postoperative year and 2 groups (ETV alone and CSF shunt insertion) during subsequent years due to limited long-term follow-up data., Results: Among 1090 patients, the majority underwent CSF shunt insertion (CSF shunt, 83.5%; ETV with CPC, 10.0%; and ETV alone, 6.5%). Patients undergoing ETV with CPC had a higher mean number of revision surgeries (1.2 ± 1.6) than those undergoing ETV alone (0.6 ± 0.8) or CSF shunt insertion (0.7 ± 1.3) over the 1st year after surgery (p = 0.005). At long-term follow-up, patients undergoing ETV alone experienced a nonsignificant lower mean number of revision surgeries (0.7 ± 0.9 at 3 years and 0.8 ± 1.3 at 5 years) than those undergoing CSF shunt insertion (1.1 ± 1.9 at 3 years and 1.4 ± 2.6 at 5 years) and exhibited a lower mean number of hospital admission days related to revision surgery (3.8 ± 10.3 vs 9.9 ± 27.0, p = 0.042)., Conclusions: Among initial treatment strategies for hydrocephalus, ETV with CPC yielded a higher surgical revision rate within 1 year after surgery. Patients undergoing ETV alone exhibited a nonsignificant lower mean number of surgical revisions than CSF shunt insertion at 3 and 5 years postoperatively. Additionally, the ETV-alone cohort demonstrated significantly fewer hospital admission days related to surgical management of hydrocephalus within 3 years after surgery. These findings suggest a time-dependent benefit of ETV over CSF shunt insertion regarding surgical resource utilization.

Objective: The subventricular zone (SVZ), housed in the lateral walls of the lateral ventricles, is the largest neurogenic niche in the brain. In adults, high-grade gliomas in contact or involved with the SVZ are associated with decreased survival. Whether this association holds true in the pediatric population remains unexplored. To address this gap in knowledge, the authors conducted this retrospective study in a pediatric population with high-grade gliomas treated at three comprehensive centers in the United States., Methods: The authors retrospectively identified 63 patients, age ≤ 21 years, with supratentorial WHO grade III-IV gliomas treated at three academic centers. Basic demographic and clinical data regarding presenting signs and symptoms and common treatment variables were obtained. Preoperative MRI studies were evaluated to assess SVZ contact by tumor and to quantify tumor volume., Results: Sixty-three patients, including 34 males (54%), had a median age of 12.3 years (IQR 6.50-16.2) and a median tumor volume of 39.4 ml (IQR 19.4-65.8). Tumors contacting the SVZ (SVZ+) were noted in 34 patients (54%) and overall were larger than those not in contact with the SVZ (SVZ-; 51.1 vs 27.3, p = 0.002). The SVZ+ tumors were also associated with decreased survival. However, age, tumor volume, tumor grade, and treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation were not associated with survival in the 63 patients. In the univariable analysis, near-total resection, gross-total resection, and seizure presentation were associated with increased survival (HR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.88, p = 0.03; HR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.09-0.74, p = 0.01; and HR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.22-0.97, p = 0.04, respectively). In a multivariable stepwise Cox regression analysis, only SVZ+ tumors remained significantly associated with decreased survival (HR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.03-3.64, p = 0.04)., Conclusions: High-grade glioma contact with the SVZ neural stem cell niche was associated with a significant decrease in survival in the pediatric population, as it is in the adult population. This result suggests that tumor contact with the SVZ is a general negative prognosticator in high-grade glioma independent of age group and invites biological investigations to understand the SVZ's role in glioma pathobiology.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the timeline of syrinx regression and to identify factors mitigating syrinx resolution in pediatric patients with Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) undergoing posterior fossa decompression (PFD)., Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective review of records from pediatric patients (< 18 years old) undergoing PFD for the treatment of CM-I/syringomyelia (SM) between 1998 and 2015. Patient demographic, clinical, radiological, and surgical variables were collected and analyzed. Radiological information was reviewed at 4 time points: 1) pre-PFD, 2) within 6 months post-PFD, 3) within 12 months post-PFD, and 4) at maximum available follow-up. Syrinx regression was defined as ≥ 50% decrease in the maximal anteroposterior syrinx diameter (MSD). The time to syrinx regression was determined using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Multivariate analysis was conducted using a Cox proportional hazards model to determine the association between preoperative, clinical, and surgery-related factors and syrinx regression., Results: The authors identified 85 patients with CM-I/SM who underwent PFD. Within 3 months post-PFD, the mean MSD regressed from 8.1 ± 3.4 mm (preoperatively) to 5.6 ± 2.9 mm within 3 months post-PFD. Seventy patients (82.4%) achieved ≥ 50% regression in MSD. The median time to ≥ 50% regression in MSD was 8 months (95% CI 4.2-11.8 months). Using a risk-adjusted multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, the patients who underwent tonsil coagulation (n = 20) had a higher likelihood of achieving ≥ 50% syrinx regression in a shorter time (HR 2.86, 95% CI 1.2-6.9; p = 0.02). Thirty-six (75%) of 45 patients had improvement in headache at 2.9 months (IQR 1.5-4.4 months)., Conclusions: The maximum reduction in syrinx size can be expected within 3 months after PFD for patients with CM-I and a syrinx; however, the syringes continue to regress over time. Tonsil coagulation was associated with early syrinx regression in this cohort. However, the role of surgical maneuvers such as tonsil coagulation and arachnoid veil identification and sectioning in the overall role of CM-I surgery remains unclear.

Objective: Factors associated with syrinx size in pediatric patients undergoing posterior fossa decompression (PFD) or PFD with duraplasty (PFDD) for Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) with syringomyelia (SM; CM-I+SM) are not well established., Methods: Using the Park-Reeves Syringomyelia Research Consortium registry, the authors analyzed variables associated with syrinx radiological outcomes in patients (< 20 years old at the time of surgery) with CM-I+SM undergoing PFD or PFDD. Syrinx resolution was defined as an anteroposterior (AP) diameter of ≤ 2 mm or ≤ 3 mm or a reduction in AP diameter of ≥ 50%. Syrinx regression or progression was defined using 1) change in syrinx AP diameter (≥ 1 mm), or 2) change in syrinx length (craniocaudal, ≥ 1 vertebral level). Syrinx stability was defined as a < 1-mm change in syrinx AP diameter and no change in syrinx length., Results: The authors identified 380 patients with CM-I+SM who underwent PFD or PFDD. Cox proportional hazards modeling revealed younger age at surgery and PFDD as being independently associated with syrinx resolution, defined as a ≤ 2-mm or ≤ 3-mm AP diameter or ≥ 50% reduction in AP diameter. Radiological syrinx resolution was associated with improvement in headache (p < 0.005) and neck pain (p < 0.011) after PFD or PFDD. Next, PFDD (p = 0.005), scoliosis (p = 0.007), and syrinx location across multiple spinal segments (p = 0.001) were associated with syrinx diameter regression, whereas increased preoperative frontal-occipital horn ratio (FOHR; p = 0.007) and syrinx location spanning multiple spinal segments (p = 0.04) were associated with syrinx length regression. Scoliosis (HR 0.38 [95% CI 0.16-0.91], p = 0.03) and smaller syrinx diameter (5.82 ± 3.38 vs 7.86 ± 3.05 mm; HR 0.60 [95% CI 0.34-1.03], p = 0.002) were associated with syrinx diameter stability, whereas shorter preoperative syrinx length (5.75 ± 4.01 vs 9.65 ± 4.31 levels; HR 0.21 [95% CI 0.12-0.38], p = 0.0001) and smaller pB-C2 distance (6.86 ± 1.27 vs 7.18 ± 1.38 mm; HR 1.44 [95% CI 1.02-2.05], p = 0.04) were associated with syrinx length stability. Finally, younger age at surgery (8.19 ± 5.02 vs 10.29 ± 4.25 years; HR 1.89 [95% CI 1.31-3.04], p = 0.01) was associated with syrinx diameter progression, whereas increased postoperative syrinx diameter (6.73 ± 3.64 vs 3.97 ± 3.07 mm; HR 3.10 [95% CI 1.67-5.76], p = 0.003), was associated with syrinx length progression. PFD versus PFDD was not associated with syrinx progression or reoperation rate., Conclusions: These data suggest that PFDD and age are independently associated with radiological syrinx improvement, although forthcoming results from the PFDD versus PFD randomized controlled trial (NCT02669836, clinicaltrials.gov) will best answer this question.

Objective: Isolated, nondisplaced skull fractures (ISFs) are a common result of pediatric head trauma. They rarely require surgical intervention; however, many patients with these injuries are still admitted to the hospital for observation. This retrospective study investigates predictors of vomiting and ondansetron use following pediatric ISFs and the role that these factors play in the need for admission and emergency department (ED) revisits., Methods: The authors identified pediatric patients (< 18 years old) with a linear ISF who had presented to the ED of a single tertiary care center between 2008 and 2018. Patients with intracranial hemorrhage, significant fracture displacement, or other traumatic injuries were excluded. Outcomes included vomiting, ondansetron use, admission, and revisit following ED discharge. Both univariable and multivariable analyses were used to determine significant predictors of each outcome (p < 0.05)., Results: Overall, 518 patients were included in this study. The median patient age was 9.98 months, and a majority of the patients (59%) were male. The most common fracture locations were parietal (n = 293 [57%]) and occipital (n = 144 [28%]). Among the entire patient cohort, 124 patients (24%) had documented vomiting, and 64 of these patients (52%) received ondansetron. In a multivariable analysis, one of the most significant predictors of vomiting was occipital fracture location (OR 4.05, p < 0.001). In turn, and as expected, both vomiting (OR 14.42, p < 0.001) and occipital fracture location (OR 2.66, p = 0.017) were associated with increased rates of ondansetron use. A total of 229 patients (44%) were admitted to the hospital, with vomiting as the most common indication for admission (n = 59 [26%]). Moreover, 4.1% of the patients had ED revisits following initial discharge, and the most common reason was vomiting (11/21 [52%]). However, in the multivariable analysis, ondansetron use at initial presentation (and not vomiting) was the sole predictor of revisit following initial ED discharge (OR 5.05, p = 0.009)., Conclusions: In this study, older patients and those with occipital fractures were more likely to present with vomiting and to be treated with ondansetron. Additionally, ondansetron use at initial presentation was found to be a significant predictor of revisits following ED discharge. Ondansetron could be masking recurrent vomiting in ED patients, and this should be considered when deciding which patients to observe further or discharge.

Objective: The authors aimed to evaluate clinical, radiological, and surgical factors associated with posterior fossa tumor resection (PFTR)-related outcomes, including postoperative complications related to dural augmentation (CSF leak and wound infection), persistent hydrocephalus ultimately requiring permanent CSF diversion after PFTR, and 90-day readmission rate., Methods: Pediatric patients (0-17 years old) undergoing PFTR between 2000 and 2016 at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital of Vanderbilt University were retrospectively reviewed. Descriptive statistics included the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare means that were nonnormally distributed and the chi-square test for categorical variables. Variables that were nominally associated (p < 0.05) with each outcome by univariate analysis were included as covariates in multivariate linear regression models. Statistical significance was set a priori at p < 0.05., Results: The cohort consisted of 186 patients with a median age at surgery of 6.62 years (range 3.37-11.78 years), 55% male, 83% Caucasian, and average length of follow-up of 3.87 ± 0.25 years. By multivariate logistic regression, the variables primary dural closure (PDC; odds ratio [OR] 8.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07-100, p = 0.04), pseudomeningocele (OR 7.43, 95% CI 2.23-23.76, p = 0.0007), and hydrocephalus ultimately requiring permanent CSF diversion within 90 days of PFTR (OR 9.25, 95% CI 2.74-31.2, p = 0.0003) were independently associated with CSF leak. PDC versus graft dural closure (GDC; 35% vs 7%, OR 5.88, 95% CI 2.94-50.0, p = 0.03) and hydrocephalus ultimately requiring permanent CSF diversion (OR 3.30, 95% CI 1.07-10.19, p = 0.0007) were associated with wound infection requiring surgical debridement. By multivariate logistic regression, GDC versus PDC (23% vs 37%, OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.87, p = 0.04) was associated with persistent hydrocephalus ultimately requiring permanent CSF diversion, whereas pre- or post-PFTR ventricular size, placement of peri- or intraoperative extraventricular drain (EVD), and radiation therapy were not. Furthermore, the addition of perioperative EVD placement and dural closure method to a previously validated predictive model of post-PFTR hydrocephalus improved its performance from area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.69 to 0.74. Lastly, the authors found that autologous (vs synthetic) grafts may be protective against persistent hydrocephalus (p = 0.02), but not CSF leak, pseudomeningocele, or wound infection., Conclusions: These results suggest that GDC, independent of potential confounding factors, may be protective against CSF leak, wound infection, and hydrocephalus in patients undergoing PFTR. Additional studies are warranted to further evaluate clinical and surgical factors impacting PFTR-associated complications.

Background: Preclinical neurosurgery electives have been shown to increase student familiarity with neurosurgery, yet the impact on students without a home neurosurgery program is unknown. We conducted a preclinical neurosurgery elective in a mixed cohort of students with and without home neurosurgery programs to 1) evaluate changes in neurosurgery perceptions, 2) discern differences between cohorts, and 3) identify important factors in those considering neurosurgery., Methods: A yearly elective was offered to students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM; home program) or Meharry Medical College (MMC; no home program) from 2017 to 2018. Each class included a student-led presentation, faculty academic lecture, and faculty round-table discussion. Precourse and postcourse surveys were completed., Results: Thirty-two students completed the course. VUSM students (n = 15) showed no changes in initial perceptions, whereas MMC students (n = 17) had multiple improved perceptions, including collegiality (P = 0.001) and family achievability (P = 0.010), and believed residency to be less rigorous than their initial perceptions (P = 0.046). Fourteen students (44%) showed an increase in the likelihood of considering a neurosurgical career; eight (57%) were MMC students. These 14 students had improved perceptions of neurosurgery as less emotionally draining (P = 0.042), with favorable collegiality (P = 0.003) and work/life balance (P = 0.001) but did not believe residency to be less difficult (P = 0.102) or have added financial security (P = 0.380)., Conclusions: Early exposure to neurosurgery at medical schools without home programs through preclinical electives may improve students' perceptions of neurosurgery, provide valuable information about the benefits and rigors of neurosurgery, and allow students to make informed decisions about further pursuit of neurosurgery., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Textual analysis of obituaries provides insight into the shared values of a profession or community. Neurosurgeon obituaries are frequently published in both the medical literature and the lay press, but the content of these works has never been analyzed., Methods: Using obituary pieces from Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery, and the New York Times, frequent terms were quantified through preliminary text analysis to derive the relative importance of concepts such as innovation, research, training and family. The sentiment of these obituaries was qualitatively reviewed to approximate perceptions of neurosurgical legacy within the profession and the general public., Results: Thirty relevant obituaries with full text available were identified in the Journal of Neurosurgery, 14 were identified in Neurosurgery, and 23 were identified in the New York Times. Both neurosurgical journals and lay press articles relied on linear narratives, with greater emphasis on professional leadership and residency training in neurosurgical journals and proportionally greater mention of family in the lay press., Conclusions: Our preliminary text analysis of neurosurgeon obituaries suggest what values are shared among the professional community and general public regarding the legacy of a neurosurgeon., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The optimal revascularization for pediatric moyamoya for reducing the incidence of future stroke events remains to be determined., Methods: The authors conducted a search of PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science electronic databases from inception until January 2019. The primary endpoint was the presence of a future ischemic stroke event. Secondary endpoints were angiographic outcomes as measured by postoperative Matsushima grade and clinical symptom persistence. Patients who underwent either direct or combined direct/indirect revascularization were classified into the direct cohort. Data from each study on presence of postoperative stroke events were used to generate standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals, which were combined using inverse variance-weighted averages of standardized mean differences in a random effects model., Results: Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria for analysis, comprising 2258 patients (1011 males, mean age 8.3 ± 1.8 years) who were followed up clinically for an average of 71.4 ± 51.3 months. One hundred fifty-four patients underwent direct bypass alone, 680 patients underwent either direct or combined direct/indirect revascularization procedures, while 1424 patients underwent indirect bypass alone. The frequencies of future stroke events in patients undergoing direct bypass alone, combined bypass, or indirect bypass alone were 1 per 190.3 patient-years, 1 per 108.9 patient-years, and 1 per 61.1 patient-years, respectively, in each cohort. The estimated stroke rates were 9.0% with indirect revascularization, 4.5% with direct revascularization alone, and 6.0% with combined revascularization. A forest plot did not reveal any significant differences in the incidence of future stroke events or angiographic outcomes following direct-only, combined, or indirect-only revascularization., Conclusions: Direct, indirect, and combined indirect/direct bypass techniques are all effective revascularization options for pediatric moyamoya disease. A relative paucity of granular studies-and inherent surgical selection bias-limits direct comparison between interventions. Suitably designed prospective cohort studies may be useful in identifying patients likely to receive benefit from specific procedures.

Objective: Scoliosis is frequently a presenting sign of Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) with syrinx. The authors' goal was to define scoliosis in this population and describe how radiological characteristics of CM-I and syrinx relate to the presence and severity of scoliosis., Methods: A large multicenter retrospective and prospective registry of pediatric patients with CM-I (tonsils ≥ 5 mm below the foramen magnum) and syrinx (≥ 3 mm in axial width) was reviewed for clinical and radiological characteristics of CM-I, syrinx, and scoliosis (coronal curve ≥ 10°)., Results: Based on available imaging of patients with CM-I and syrinx, 260 of 825 patients (31%) had a clear diagnosis of scoliosis based on radiographs or coronal MRI. Forty-nine patients (5.9%) did not have scoliosis, and in 516 (63%) patients, a clear determination of the presence or absence of scoliosis could not be made. Comparison of patients with and those without a definite scoliosis diagnosis indicated that scoliosis was associated with wider syrinxes (8.7 vs 6.3 mm, OR 1.25, p < 0.001), longer syrinxes (10.3 vs 6.2 levels, OR 1.18, p < 0.001), syrinxes with their rostral extent located in the cervical spine (94% vs 80%, OR 3.91, p = 0.001), and holocord syrinxes (50% vs 16%, OR 5.61, p < 0.001). Multivariable regression analysis revealed syrinx length and the presence of holocord syrinx to be independent predictors of scoliosis in this patient cohort. Scoliosis was not associated with sex, age at CM-I diagnosis, tonsil position, pB-C2 distance (measured perpendicular distance from the ventral dura to a line drawn from the basion to the posterior-inferior aspect of C2), clivoaxial angle, or frontal-occipital horn ratio. Average curve magnitude was 29.9°, and 37.7% of patients had a left thoracic curve. Older age at CM-I or syrinx diagnosis (p < 0.0001) was associated with greater curve magnitude whereas there was no association between syrinx dimensions and curve magnitude., Conclusions: Syrinx characteristics, but not tonsil position, were related to the presence of scoliosis in patients with CM-I, and there was an independent association of syrinx length and holocord syrinx with scoliosis. Further study is needed to evaluate the nature of the relationship between syrinx and scoliosis in patients with CM-I.

The two-hit hypothesis of neural injury in the wake of open neural tube defects suggests an opportunity for preservation of function and potential reversibility of early morphological changes in the fetus diagnosed with myelomeningocele. The Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) demonstrated reduced need for shunting and improved neurological function in patients treated in utero relative to postnatally, thereby offering level 1 evidence supporting fetal repair. Subsequent studies have offered additional information about urological, orthopedic, radiological, and maternal factors surrounding fetal repair. The quest for robust long-term neurocognitive and motor function data is underway and poised to shape the future of fetal repair. In addition, technical innovations such as fetoscopic surgery aim to minimize maternal morbidity while conferring the beneficial effects observed with open intrauterine intervention.

Background and Purpose: The purpose of the study is to characterize diffusion tensor imaging indices in the developing spinal cord, evaluating differences based on age and cord region. Describing the progression of DTI indices in the pediatric cord increases our understanding of spinal cord development., Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on DTI acquired in 121 pediatric patients (mean, 8.6 years; range, 0.3-18.0 years) at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt from 2017 to 2018. Diffusion-weighted images (15 directions; b = 750 s/mm 2 ; slice thickness, 5 mm; in-plane resolution, 1.0 × 1.0 mm 2 ) were acquired on a 3T scanner in the cervicothoracic and/or thoracolumbar cord. Manual whole-cord segmentation was performed. Images were masked and further segmented into cervical, upper thoracic, thoracolumbar, and conus regions. Analyses of covariance were performed for each DTI-derived index to investigate how age affects diffusion across cord regions, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated across age for each derived index and region. Post hoc testing was performed to analyze regional differences., Results: Analyses of covariance revealed significant correlations of age with axial diffusivity, mean diffusivity, and fractional anisotropy (all, P < .001). There were also significant differences among cord regions for axial diffusivity, radial diffusivity, mean diffusivity, and fractional anisotropy (all, P < .001)., Conclusions: This research demonstrates that diffusion evolves in the pediatric spinal cord during development, dependent on both cord region and the diffusion index of interest. Future research could investigate how diffusion may be affected by common pediatric spinal pathologies., (© 2019 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)

Objective: At failure of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) with choroid plexus cauterization (CPC), the ETV ostomy may be found to be closed or open. Failure with a closed ostomy may indicate a population that could benefit from evolving techniques to keep the ostomy open and may be candidates for repeat ETV, whereas failure with an open ostomy may be due to persistently abnormal CSF dynamics. This study seeks to identify clinical and radiographic predictors of ostomy status at the time of ETV/CPC failure., Methods: The authors conducted a multicenter, retrospective cohort study on all pediatric patients with hydrocephalus who failed initial ETV/CPC treatment between January 2013 and October 2016. Failure was defined as the need for repeat ETV or ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement. Clinical and radiographic data were collected, and ETV ostomy status was determined endoscopically at the subsequent hydrocephalus procedure. Statistical analysis included the Mann-Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, t-test, and Pearson chi-square test where appropriate, as well as multivariate logistic regression., Results: Of 72 ETV/CPC failures, 28 patients (39%) had open-ostomy failure and 44 (61%) had closed-ostomy failure. Patients with open-ostomy failure were older (median 5.1 weeks corrected age for gestation [interquartile range (IQR) 0.9-15.9 weeks]) than patients with closed-ostomy failure (median 0.2 weeks [IQR -1.3 to 4.5 weeks]), a significant difference by univariate and multivariate regression. Etiologies of hydrocephalus included intraventricular hemorrhage of prematurity (32%), myelomeningocele (29%), congenital communicating (11%), aqueductal stenosis (11%), cyst/tumor (4%), and other causes (12%). A wider baseline third ventricle was associated with open-ostomy failure (median 15.0 mm [IQR 10.3-18.5 mm]) compared to closed-ostomy failure (median 11.7 mm [IQR 8.9-16.5 mm], p = 0.048). Finally, at the time of failure, patients with closed-ostomy failure had enlargement of their ventricles (frontal and occipital horn ratio [FOHR], failure vs baseline, median 0.06 [IQR 0.00-0.11]), while patients with open-ostomy failure had no change in ventricle size (median 0.01 [IQR -0.04 to 0.05], p = 0.018). Previous CSF temporizing procedures, intraoperative bleeding, and time to failure were not associated with ostomy status at ETV/CPC failure., Conclusions: Older corrected age for gestation, larger baseline third ventricle width, and no change in FOHR were associated with open-ostomy ETV/CPC failure. Future studies are warranted to further define and confirm features that may be predictive of ostomy status at the time of ETV/CPC failure.

Introduction: Myelomeningocele is the most common open neural tube defect. A quadruple rotation-VY advancement flap (butterfly flap) was recently reported for closure of large myelomeningocele defects; however, no series has been reproduced to evaluate this technique. The objective of this study was to describe our experience with this technique., Materials and Methods: We reviewed all infants born with large myelomeningocele defects who underwent butterfly flap closure over a 2-year period. Demographics, defect size, operative details, and complications were used to generate descriptive statistics., Results: From June 2015 to January 2018, 7 infants met inclusion criteria. Mean defect width was 52% ± 0.11 of the back, representing 21% ± 0.09 of the total back area. Only 1 child had central breakdown. All patients had some peripheral skin dehiscence that occurred on postoperative day 12 ± 7, and these were treated with outpatient wound care. Four patients returned to the operating room for dehiscence electively. There were no incidences of total flap loss. There were no cases of meningitis or myelomeningocele dehiscence. All patients had successful closure of their myelomeningocele without the use of skin grafts., Conclusions: The butterfly flap is able to close large myelomeningocele defects and has the potential to improve contour. There are minor wound-healing complications, but in the rare event of central dehiscence, quadruple rotation-VY advancement flaps can be re-advanced. In all cases, a large myelomeningocele was successfully reconstructed with robust full-thickness flaps, and there was no need for skin grafting of donor sites.

Objective: Endoscopic third ventriculostomy combined with choroid plexus cauterization (ETV+CPC) has been adopted by many pediatric neurosurgeons as an alternative to placing shunts in infants with hydrocephalus. However, reported success rates have been highly variable, which may be secondary to patient selection, operative technique, and/or surgeon training. The objective of this prospective multicenter cohort study was to identify independent patient selection, operative technique, or surgical training predictors of ETV+CPC success in infants., Methods: This was a prospective cohort study nested within the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network's (HCRN) Core Data Project (registry). All infants under the age of 2 years who underwent a first ETV+CPC between June 2006 and March 2015 from 8 HCRN centers were included. Each patient had a minimum of 6 months of follow-up unless censored by an ETV+CPC failure. Patient and operative risk factors of failure were examined, as well as formal ETV+CPC training, which was defined as traveling to and working with the experienced surgeons at CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda. ETV+CPC failure was defined as the need for repeat ETV, shunting, or death., Results: The study contained 191 patients with a primary ETV+CPC conducted by 17 pediatric neurosurgeons within the HCRN. Infants under 6 months corrected age at the time of ETV+CPC represented 79% of the cohort. Myelomeningocele (26%), intraventricular hemorrhage associated with prematurity (24%), and aqueductal stenosis (17%) were the most common etiologies. A total of 115 (60%) of the ETV+CPCs were conducted by surgeons after formal training. Overall, ETV+CPC was successful in 48%, 46%, and 45% of infants at 6 months, 1 year, and 18 months, respectively. Young age (< 1 month) (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.9, 95% CI 1.0-3.6) and an etiology of post-intraventricular hemorrhage secondary to prematurity (aHR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.6) were the only two independent predictors of ETV+CPC failure. Specific subgroups of ages within etiology categories were identified as having higher ETV+CPC success rates. Although training led to more frequent use of the flexible scope (p < 0.001) and higher rates of complete (> 90%) CPC (p < 0.001), training itself was not independently associated (aHR 1.1, 95% CI 0.7-1.8; p = 0.63) with ETV+CPC success., Conclusions: This is the largest prospective multicenter North American study to date examining ETV+CPC. Formal ETV+CPC training was not found to be associated with improved procedure outcomes. Specific subgroups of ages within specific hydrocephalus etiologies were identified that may preferentially benefit from ETV+CPC.

Objective: Little is understood about the role that health disparities play in the treatment and management of brain tumors in children. The purpose of this study was to determine if health disparities impact the timing of initial and follow-up care of patients, as well as overall survival., Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective study of pediatric patients (< 18 years of age) previously diagnosed with, and initially treated for, a primary CNS tumor between 2005 and 2012 at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Primary outcomes included time from symptom presentation to initial neurosurgery consultation and percentage of missed follow-up visits for ancillary or core services (defined as no-show visits). Core services were defined as healthcare interactions directly involved with CNS tumor management, whereas ancillary services were appointments that might be related to overall care of the patient but not directly focused on treatment of the tumor. Statistical analysis included Pearson's chi-square test, nonparametric univariable tests, and multivariable linear regression. Statistical significance was set a priori at p < 0.05., Results: The analysis included 198 patients. The median time from symptom onset to initial presentation was 30.0 days. A mean of 7.45% of all core visits were missed. When comparing African American and Caucasian patients, there was no significant difference in age at diagnosis, timing of initial symptoms, or tumor grade. African American patients missed significantly more core visits than Caucasian patients (p = 0.007); this became even more significant when controlling for other factors in the multivariable analysis (p < 0.001). African American patients were more likely to have public insurance, while Caucasian patients were more likely to have private insurance (p = 0.025). When evaluating survival, no health disparities were identified., Conclusions: No significant health disparities were identified when evaluating the timing of presentation and survival. A racial disparity was noted when evaluating missed follow-up visits. Future work should focus on identifying reasons for differences and whether social determinants of health affect other aspects of treatment.

Objective: The Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) established several important benefits of myelomeningocele fetal closure, including decreased need for shunting at 30 months. However, the effects of fetal closure on long-term quality of life (QOL) have not been studied. In this study, the authors aimed to analyze the differences in long-term QOL between children treated with intrauterine repair and those treated with postnatal repair., Methods: Caregivers of children treated with either intrauterine or postnatal closure at a tertiary acute care hospital between 1997 and 2003 were contacted to participate. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0) and a surgical history questionnaire were administered over the phone. Responses to the QOL survey were reverse scored and linearly transformed to a 0-100 scale, with a higher score indicating better QOL. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to analyze differences in means., Results: Seventy-four children had MMC repair between 1997 and 2003. Twenty-three (31%) of the patients' families responded to the PedsQL 4.0 questionnaire. Of these 23 children, 11 had intrauterine closure and 12 had postnatal closure. The intrauterine group did not differ in age (median [IQR] 17 years [14-17 years] vs 15 years [14-19 years], p = 0.926), sex (27.3% vs 41.7% male, p = 0.469), or lesion level (p = 0.199) from the postnatal group. Fewer patients in the intrauterine group underwent neurosurgical procedures than those in the postnatal group (55.6% vs 100%, p = 0.018). However, of the children receiving neurosurgical procedures, there was no difference in the number of procedures between the intrauterine and postnatal groups (median [IQR] 4 [2-10.5] vs 2.5 [1.75-6.25], p = 0.458). There was no difference in the percentage of children receiving nonneurosurgical procedures between the two groups (100% vs 100%, p > 0.99). Children who underwent intrauterine closure had significantly higher psychosocial health (median [IQR] 70.0 [56.7-83.3] vs 55.0 [42.1-60.0], p = 0.015) as well as total QOL (median [IQR] 56.5 [55.4-81.5] vs 49.5 [32.9-59.0], p = 0.019) than children with postnatal closure. Physical health was not significantly different between the two groups (median [IQR] 62.5 [37.5-78.1] vs 39.1 [18.8-59.4], p = 0.108)., Conclusions: Relative to postnatal closure, children who underwent intrauterine closure of MMC demonstrated better long-term QOL as measured by psychosocial and overall QOL metrics. Given that not all medical and socioeconomic confounders were adjusted for due to the low sample size, validation of these results in a larger population and across multiple centers is needed.

Once the accepted norm during Harvey Cushing's time, the mantra of work to the exclusion of family and lifestyle is now recognized as deleterious to overall well-being. A number of neurosurgical residency training programs have implemented wellness programs to enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of trainees and faculty. This manuscript highlights existing organized wellness education within neurosurgery residency programs in order to describe the motivations behind development, structure, and potential implementation strategies, cost of implementation, and identify successes and barriers in the integration process. This manuscript is designed to serve as a "how-to" guide for other programs who may identify a need in their own trainees and begins the discussion of how to develop wellness, leadership, grit, and resiliency within our future generation of neurosurgeons., (Copyright © 2018 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.)

Purpose: To determine the rate of marginal relapse, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with pediatric low-grade glioma (PLGG) treated with conformal radiation therapy (CRT) with a clinical target volume (CTV) margin of 5 mm in the Children's Oncology Group trial ACNS0221., Methods and Materials: Patients aged 3 to 21 years with unresectable progressive, recurrent, or residual PLGG were eligible for this study. Patients younger than 10 years were required to have received at least 1 chemotherapy course. Patients with neurofibromatosis type I were not eligible. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging-based planning and received 54 Gy CRT in 30 fractions with a 5-mm CTV margin., Results: Of 85 eligible patients (median age, 13.6 years) treated between March 2006 and December 2010, 14 were younger than 10 years and 36 received prior chemotherapy. Sixty-six had pilocytic astrocytoma, 15 had other histologic subtypes, and 4 had unbiopsied chiasmatic lesions. Events included 23 relapses (19 central, 4 distant, and no marginal) and 7 deaths. At a median follow-up of 5.15 years, 5-year PFS was 71% ± 6% and OS was 93% ± 4%. Male sex (P = .068) and large tumor size (P = .050) trended toward significance for association with decreased PFS. Age, histology, tumor location, time between diagnosis and study entry, and MIB-1 status were not associated with PFS. OS was negatively associated with male sex (P = .064), non-pilocytic astrocytoma histology (P = .010), and large tumor size (P = .0089)., Conclusions: For patients with PLGG, CRT with a CTV margin of 5 mm yields an acceptable PFS and does not lead to a high rate of marginal relapse., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: CSF shunt infection treatment requires both surgical and antibiotic decisions. Using the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) Registry and 2004 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines that were not proactively distributed to HCRN providers, the authors previously found high adherence to surgical recommendations but poor adherence to intravenous (IV) antibiotic duration recommendations. In general, IV antibiotic duration was longer than recommended. In March 2017, new IDSA guidelines expanded upon the 2004 guidelines by including recommendations for selection of specific antibiotics. The objective of this study was to describe adherence to both 2004 and 2017 IDSA guideline recommendations for CSF shunt infection treatment, and to report reinfection rates associated with adherence to guideline recommendations., Methods: The authors investigated a prospective cohort of children younger than 18 years of age who underwent treatment for first CSF shunt infection at one of 7 hospitals from April 2008 to December 2012. CSF shunt infection was diagnosed by recovery of bacteria from CSF culture (CSF-positive infection). Adherence to 2004 and 2017 guideline recommendations was determined. Adherence to antibiotics was further classified as longer or shorter duration than guideline recommendations. Reinfection rates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were generated., Results: There were 133 children with CSF-positive infections addressed by 2004 IDSA guideline recommendations, with 124 at risk for reinfection. Zero reinfections were observed among those whose treatment was fully adherent (0/14, 0% [95% CI 0%-20%]), and 15 reinfections were observed among those whose infection treatment was nonadherent (15/110, 14% [95% CI 8%-21%]). Among the 110 first infections whose infection treatment was nonadherent, 74 first infections were treated for a longer duration than guidelines recommended and 9 developed reinfection (9/74, 12% [95% CI 6%-22%]). There were 145 children with CSF-positive infections addressed by 2017 IDSA guideline recommendations, with 135 at risk for reinfection. No reinfections were observed among children whose treatment was fully adherent (0/3, 0% [95% CI 0%-64%]), and 18 reinfections were observed among those whose infection treatment was nonadherent (18/132, 14% [95% CI 8%-21%])., Conclusions: There is no clear evidence that either adherence to IDSA guidelines or duration of treatment longer than recommended is associated with reduction in reinfection rates. Because IDSA guidelines recommend shorter IV antibiotic durations than are typically used, improvement efforts to reduce IV antibiotic use in CSF shunt infection treatment can and should utilize IDSA guidelines.

In BriefThe authors analyzed the costs associated with the three different procedures used to treat hydrocephalus in the pediatric population. They believe this study highlights the importance of patient-specific treatment decisions that are based on etiology and previous intervention. The patient-specific medical characteristics are a driving force in the cost of care.

OBJECTIVEComplications after complex tethered spinal cord (cTSC) surgery include infections and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks. With little empirical evidence to guide management, there is variability in the interventions undertaken to limit complications. Expert-based best practices may improve the care of patients undergoing cTSC surgery. Here, authors conducted a study to identify consensus-driven best practices.METHODSThe Delphi method was employed to identify consensual best practices. A literature review regarding cTSC surgery together with a survey of current practices was distributed to 17 board-certified pediatric neurosurgeons. Thirty statements were then formulated and distributed to the group. Results of the second survey were discussed during an in-person meeting leading to further consensus, which was defined as ≥ 80% agreement on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree).RESULTSSeventeen consensus-driven best practices were identified, with all participants willing to incorporate them into their practice. There were four preoperative interventions: (1, 2) asymptomatic AND symptomatic patients should be referred to urology preoperatively, (3, 4) routine preoperative urine cultures are not necessary for asymptomatic AND symptomatic patients. There were nine intraoperative interventions: (5) patients should receive perioperative cefazolin or an equivalent alternative in the event of allergy, (6) chlorhexidine-based skin preparation is the preferred regimen, (7) saline irrigation should be used intermittently throughout the case, (8) antibiotic-containing irrigation should be used following dural closure, (9) a nonlocking running suture technique should be used for dural closure, (10) dural graft overlay should be used when unable to obtain primary dural closure, (11) an expansile dural graft should be incorporated in cases of lipomyelomeningocele in which primary dural closure does not permit free flow of CSF, (12) paraxial muscles should be closed as a layer separate from the fascia, (13) routine placement of postoperative drains is not necessary. There were three postoperative interventions: (14) postoperative antibiotics are an option and, if given, should be discontinued within 24 hours; (15) patients should remain flat for at least 24 hours postoperatively; (16) routine use of abdominal binders or other compressive devices postoperatively is not necessary. One intervention was prioritized for additional study: (17) further study of additional gram-negative perioperative coverage is needed.CONCLUSIONSA modified Delphi technique was used to develop consensus-driven best practices for decreasing wound complications after cTSC surgery. Further study is required to determine if implementation of these practices will lead to reduced complications. Discussion through the course of this study resulted in the initiation of a multicenter study of gram-negative surgical site infections in cTSC surgery.

Purpose: In traumatic brain injury (TBI), hyperglycemia and hypothermia are thought to be associated with poor outcomes, but have not been systematically studied in children. Thus, our aim was to evaluate whether serum glucose and temperature at admission, among other clinical variables, were associated with need for post hospital-discharge seizure medication in children diagnosed with TBI., Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 1814 children who were diagnosed with TBI at a tertiary pediatric hospital. Serum glucose levels at admission and temperature at initial presentation, 12, and 24 h were collected. Ongoing seizure activity was defined as discharge prescription of a seizure-modifying medication., Results: We identified 121 patients with need for continued seizure medications, and 80 patients expired. Independent predictors of prolonged seizures included serum glucose levels above 140 mg/dl (p < 0.003) and 199 mg/dl (p < 0.001), hypothermia (<35 °C), subdural hematoma (p < 0.001), midline shift (p < 0.001), and > 1% temperature change in the first 24 h (p < 0.001). Multivariate regression adjusting for GCS revealed that bilateral bleed (p = 0.008), body-temperature instability (p = 0.026), subdural hematoma (p < 0.001), and mechanism of injury (p = 0.007) were predictive of prolonged seizure activity., Conclusions: In summary, we conclude that body temperature may be playing a more significant role than glycemic control in propensity for ongoing seizure activity in children sustaining TBI.

OBJECTIVE Both the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Joint Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery (AANS/CNS Pediatric Section) and the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN) annual meetings provide a platform for pediatric neurosurgeons to present, discuss, and disseminate current academic research. An ultimate goal of these meetings is to publish presented results in peer-reviewed journals. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the publication rates of oral presentations from the 2009, 2010, and 2011 AANS/CNS Pediatric Section and ISPN annual meetings in peer-reviewed journals. METHODS All oral presentations from the 2009, 2010, and 2011 AANS/CNS Pediatric Section and ISPN annual meetings were reviewed. Abstracts were obtained from the AANS/CNS Pediatric Section and ISPN conference proceedings, which are available online. Author and title information were used to search PubMed to identify those abstracts that had progressed to publication in peer-reviewed journals. The title of the journal, year of the publication, and authors' country of origin were also recorded. RESULTS Overall, 60.6% of the presented oral abstracts from the AANS/CNS Pediatric Section meetings progressed to publication in peer-reviewed journals, as compared with 40.6% of the ISPN presented abstracts (p = 0.0001). The journals in which the AANS/CNS Pediatric Section abstract-based publications most commonly appeared were Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics (52%), Child's Nervous System (11%), and Journal of Neurosurgery (8%). The ISPN abstracts most often appeared in the journals Child's Nervous System (29%), Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics (14%), and Neurosurgery (9%). Overall, more than 90% of the abstract-based articles were published within 4 years after presentation of the abstracts on which they were based. CONCLUSIONS Oral abstract presentations at two annual pediatric neurosurgery meetings have publication rates in peer-reviewed journal comparable to those for oral abstracts at other national and international neurosurgery meetings. The vast majority of abstract-based papers are published within 4 years of the meeting at which the abstract was presented; however, the AANS/CNS Pediatric Section abstracts are published at a significantly higher rate than ISPN abstracts, which could indicate the different meeting sizes, research goals, and resources of US authors compared with those of authors from other countries.

Purpose: Antenatally diagnosed ventriculomegaly (VM) requires the balance of risks of neurological injury with premature delivery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes related to early elective delivery due to fetal VM at our institution., Methods: We retrospectively assessed 120 babies (2008-2012) with antenatally diagnosed fetal VM. Inclusion criteria for ("early") cohort were (1) elective delivery occurred for expedited neurosurgical intervention between 32 and 36 weeks EGA and (2) fetal VM noted on official antenatal ultrasound. The comparative "near term" cohort differed only in that delivery occurred at 37+ weeks EGA. Statistical significance for comparative analyses set a priori at p < 0.05., Results: Babies electively delivered early had a lower birthweight (p < 0.0001), greater ventricle width (p < 0.0001), and underwent initial CSF diversion sooner (p = 0.014). The early cohort (n = 22), compared to near term (n = 50), had a lower birthweight (p < 0.0001), greater ventricle width (p < 0.0001), and underwent initial CSF diversion sooner (p = 0.014). The early cohort required more repeat procedures: (45 vs. 22% p = 0.021), and VPS removals after VPS infections (41 vs. 12%, p = 0.010). Additionally, newborn respiratory failure (32 vs. 6%, p = 0.037) was more common. Finally, of four babies who died in the early cohort, 2/4 died for prematurity-associated pulmonary hypoplasia., Conclusions: While early elective delivery for fetal VM expedites intervention for rapidly expanding ventricles, few benefits were identified. Our study concluded those infants that were delivered earlier had increased VPS infections, repeat neurosurgical procedures, and medical co-morbidities. A multi-institutional prospective observational study would be needed in order to confirm the clinical implications of such practice.

Objective: Hydrocephalus is one of the most common brain disorders, yet a reliable assessment of the global burden of disease is lacking. The authors sought a reliable estimate of the prevalence and annual incidence of hydrocephalus worldwide., Methods: The authors performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to estimate the incidence of congenital hydrocephalus by WHO region and World Bank income level using the MEDLINE/PubMed and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews databases. A global estimate of pediatric hydrocephalus was obtained by adding acquired forms of childhood hydrocephalus to the baseline congenital figures using neural tube defect (NTD) registry data and known proportions of posthemorrhagic and postinfectious cases. Adult forms of hydrocephalus were also examined qualitatively., Results: Seventy-eight articles were included from the systematic review, representative of all WHO regions and each income level. The pooled incidence of congenital hydrocephalus was highest in Africa and Latin America (145 and 316 per 100,000 births, respectively) and lowest in the United States/Canada (68 per 100,000 births) (p for interaction < 0.1). The incidence was higher in low- and middle-income countries (123 per 100,000 births; 95% CI 98-152 births) than in high-income countries (79 per 100,000 births; 95% CI 68-90 births) (p for interaction < 0.01). While likely representing an underestimate, this model predicts that each year, nearly 400,000 new cases of pediatric hydrocephalus will develop worldwide. The greatest burden of disease falls on the African, Latin American, and Southeast Asian regions, accounting for three-quarters of the total volume of new cases. The high crude birth rate, greater proportion of patients with postinfectious etiology, and higher incidence of NTDs all contribute to a case volume in low- and middle-income countries that outweighs that in high-income countries by more than 20-fold. Global estimates of adult and other forms of acquired hydrocephalus are lacking., Conclusions: For the first time in a global model, the annual incidence of pediatric hydrocephalus is estimated. Low- and middle-income countries incur the greatest burden of disease, particularly those within the African and Latin American regions. Reliable incidence and burden figures for adult forms of hydrocephalus are absent in the literature and warrant specific investigation. A global effort to address hydrocephalus in regions with the greatest demand is imperative to reduce disease incidence, morbidity, mortality, and disparities of access to treatment.

OBJECTIVE CSF shunt infection requires both surgical and antibiotic treatment. Surgical treatment includes either total shunt removal with external ventricular drain (EVD) placement followed by new shunt insertion, or distal shunt externalization followed by new shunt insertion once the CSF is sterile. Antibiotic treatment includes the administration of intravenous antibiotics. The Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) registry provides a unique opportunity to understand reinfection following treatment for CSF shunt infection. This study examines the association of surgical and antibiotic decisions in the treatment of first CSF shunt infection with reinfection. METHODS A prospective cohort study of children undergoing treatment for first CSF infection at 7 HCRN hospitals from April 2008 to December 2012 was performed. The HCRN consensus definition was used to define CSF shunt infection and reinfection. The key surgical predictor variable was surgical approach to treatment for CSF shunt infection, and the key antibiotic treatment predictor variable was intravenous antibiotic selection and duration. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to address the time-varying nature of the characteristics associated with shunt surgeries. RESULTS Of 233 children in the HCRN registry with an initial CSF shunt infection during the study period, 38 patients (16%) developed reinfection over a median time of 44 days (interquartile range [IQR] 19-437). The majority of initial CSF shunt infections were treated with total shunt removal and EVD placement (175 patients; 75%). The median time between infection surgeries was 15 days (IQR 10-22). For the subset of 172 infections diagnosed by CSF culture, the mean ± SD duration of antibiotic treatment was 18.7 ± 12.8 days. In all Cox proportional hazards models, neither surgical approach to infection treatment nor overall intravenous antibiotic duration was independently associated with reinfection. The only treatment decision independently associated with decreased infection risk was the use of rifampin. While this finding did not achieve statistical significance, in all 5 Cox proportional hazards models both surgical approach (other than total shunt removal at initial CSF shunt infection) and nonventriculoperitoneal shunt location were consistently associated with a higher hazard of reinfection, while the use of ultrasound was consistently associated with a lower hazard of reinfection. CONCLUSIONS Neither surgical approach to treatment nor antibiotic duration was associated with reinfection risk. While these findings did not achieve statistical significance, surgical approach other than total removal at initial CSF shunt infection was consistently associated with a higher hazard of reinfection in this study and suggests the feasibility of controlling and standardizing the surgical approach (shunt removal with EVD placement). Considerably more variation and equipoise exists in the duration and selection of intravenous antibiotic treatment. Further consideration should be given to the use of rifampin in the treatment of CSF shunt infection. High-quality studies of the optimal duration of antibiotic treatment are critical to the creation of evidence-based guidelines for CSF shunt infection treatment.

OBJECTIVE It has been suggested that the treatment of infant hydrocephalus results in different craniometric changes depending upon whether ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement or endoscopic third ventriculostomy with choroid plexus cauterization (ETV/CPC) is performed. Without an objective and quantitative description of expected changes to the infant cranium and ventricles following ETV/CPC, asserting successful treatment of hydrocephalus is difficult. By comparing infants successfully treated via ETV/CPC or VPS surgery, the authors of this study aimed to define the expected postoperative cranial and ventricular alterations at the time of clinical follow-up. METHODS Patients who underwent successful treatment of hydrocephalus at 4 institutions with either VPS placement or ETV/CPC were matched in a 3:1 ratio on the basis of age and etiology. Commonly used cranial parameters (including head circumference [HC], HC z-score, fontanelle status, and frontooccipital horn ratio [FOHR]) were compared pre- and postoperatively between treatment cohorts. First, baseline preoperative values were compared to ensure cohort equivalence. Next, postoperative metrics, including the relative change in metrics, were compared between treatment groups using multivariate linear regression. RESULTS Across 4 institutions, 18 ETV/CPC-treated and 54 VPS-treated infants with hydrocephalus were matched and compared at 6 months postoperatively. The most common etiologies of hydrocephalus were myelomeningocele (61%), followed by congenital communicating hydrocephalus (17%), aqueductal stenosis (11%), and intraventricular hemorrhage (6%). The mean age at the time of CSF diversion was similar between ETV/CPC- and VPS-treated patients (3.4 vs 2.9 months; p = 0.69), as were all preoperative cranial hydrocephalus metrics (p > 0.05). Postoperatively, the ventricle size FOHR decreased significantly more following VPS surgery (-0.15) than following ETV/CPC (-0.02) (p < 0.001), yielding a lower postoperative FOHR in the VPS arm (0.42 vs 0.51; p = 0.01). The HC percentile was greater in the ETV/CPC cohort than in the VPS-treated patients (76th vs 54th percentile; p = 0.046). A significant difference in the postoperative z-score was not observed. With both treatment modalities, a bulging fontanelle reliably normalized at last follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Clinical and radiographic parameters following successful treatment of hydrocephalus in infants differed between ETV/CPC and VPS treatment. At 6 months post-ETV/CPC, ventricle size remained unchanged, whereas VPS-treated ventricles decreased to a near-normal FOHR. The HC growth control between the procedures was similar, although the final HC percentile may be lower after VPS. The fontanelle remained a reliable indicator of success for both treatments. This study establishes expected cranial and ventricular parameters following ETV/CPC, which may be used to guide preoperative counseling and postoperative decision making.

OBJECTIVE High-quality data comparing endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) with choroid plexus cauterization (CPC) to shunt and ETV alone in North America are greatly lacking. To address this, the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) conducted a prospective study of ETV+CPC in infants. Here, these prospective data are presented and compared to prospectively collected data from a historical cohort of infants treated with shunt or ETV alone. METHODS From June 2014 to September 2015, infants (corrected age ≤ 24 months) requiring treatment for hydrocephalus with anatomy suitable for ETV+CPC were entered into a prospective study at 9 HCRN centers. The rate of procedural failure (i.e., the need for repeat hydrocephalus surgery, hydrocephalus-related death, or major postoperative neurological deficit) was determined. These data were compared with a cohort of similar infants who were treated with either a shunt (n = 969) or ETV alone (n = 74) by creating matched pairs on the basis of age and etiology. These data were obtained from the existing prospective HCRN Core Data Project. All patients were observed for at least 6 months. RESULTS A total of 118 infants underwent ETV+CPC (median corrected age 1.3 months; common etiologies including myelomeningocele [30.5%], intraventricular hemorrhage of prematurity [22.9%], and aqueductal stenosis [21.2%]). The 6-month success rate was 36%. The most common complications included seizures (5.1%) and CSF leak (3.4%). Important predictors of treatment success in the survival regression model included older age (p = 0.002), smaller preoperative ventricle size (p = 0.009), and greater degree of CPC (p = 0.02). The matching algorithm resulted in 112 matched pairs for ETV+CPC versus shunt alone and 34 matched pairs for ETV+CPC versus ETV alone. ETV+CPC was found to have significantly higher failure rate than shunt placement (p < 0.001). Although ETV+CPC had a similar failure rate compared with ETV alone (p = 0.73), the matched pairs included mostly infants with aqueductal stenosis and miscellaneous other etiologies but very few patients with intraventricular hemorrhage of prematurity. CONCLUSIONS Within a large and broad cohort of North American infants, our data show that overall ETV+CPC appears to have a higher failure rate than shunt alone. Although the ETV+CPC results were similar to ETV alone, this comparison was limited by the small sample size and skewed etiological distribution. Within the ETV+CPC group, greater extent of CPC was associated with treatment success, thereby suggesting that there are subgroups who might benefit from the addition of CPC. Further work will focus on identifying these subgroups.

Background: Neurosurgical educators strive to identify the best applicants, yet formal study of resident selection has proved difficult. We conducted a systematic review to answer the following question: What objective and subjective preresidency factors predict resident success?, Methods: PubMed, ProQuest, Embase, and the CINAHL databases were queried from 1952 to 2015 for literature reporting the impact of preresidency factors (PRFs) on outcomes of residency success (RS), among neurosurgery and all surgical subspecialties. Due to heterogeneity of specialties and outcomes, a qualitative summary and heat map of significant findings were constructed., Results: From 1489 studies, 21 articles met inclusion criteria, which evaluated 1276 resident applicants across five surgical subspecialties. No neurosurgical studies met the inclusion criteria. Common objective PRFs included standardized testing (76%), medical school performance (48%), and Alpha Omega Alpha (43%). Common subjective PRFs included aggregate rank scores (57%), letters of recommendation (38%), research (33%), interviews (19%), and athletic or musical talent (19%). Outcomes of RS included faculty evaluations, in-training/board exams, chief resident status, and research productivity. Among objective factors, standardized test scores correlated well with in-training/board examinations but poorly correlated with faculty evaluations. Among subjective factors, aggregate rank scores, letters of recommendation, and athletic or musical talent demonstrated moderate correlation with faculty evaluations., Conclusion: Standardized testing most strongly correlated with future examination performance but correlated poorly with faculty evaluations. Moderate predictors of faculty evaluations were aggregate rank scores, letters of recommendation, and athletic or musical talent. The ability to predict success of neurosurgical residents using an evidence-based approach is limited, and few factors have correlated with future resident performance. Given the importance of recruitment to the greater field of neurosurgery, these data provide support for a national, prospective effort to improve the study of neurosurgery resident selection., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background/aims: Scoliosis is common in patients with Chiari malformation-I (CM-I). This study examined the change in scoliosis severity after posterior fossa decompression (PFD) for CM-I., Methods: We conducted a retrospective review at a single tertiary center for children undergoing PFD with untreated scoliosis, and identified 17 patients with complete follow-up data and imaging., Results: Overall, scoliosis improved in 7 (41.2%) patients, worsened in 9 (52.9%), and remained unchanged in 1 (5.9%) after PFD (mean follow-up of 7.8 ± 4.1 months). We found that 3 of the 8 (38%) children with early-onset scoliosis eventually needed scoliosis corrective surgery, which was needed in 7 of the 9 (78%) patients with adolescent-onset scoliosis. In addition, only 1 patient (17%) with a preoperative scoliosis curve <35 degrees and 9 patients (82%) with a curve ≥35 degrees required surgery for scoliosis correction despite PFD (p = 0.018)., Conclusion: In certain patients, PFD for CM-I may lead to improvement or stabilization of scoliosis., (© 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

OBJECTIVE Readmission and return to operating room after surgery are increasingly being used as a proxy for quality of care. Nearly 60% of these readmissions are unplanned, which translates into billions of dollars in health care costs. The authors set out to analyze the incidence of readmission at their center, to define causes of unplanned readmission, and to determine the preoperative and surgical variables associated with readmissions following pediatric neurosurgery. METHODS A total of 536 children who underwent operations for neurosurgical diagnoses between 2012 and 2015 and who were later readmitted were included in the final analysis. Unplanned readmissions were defined to have occurred as a result of complications within 90 days after index surgery. Patient records were retrospectively reviewed to determine the primary diagnosis, surgery indication, and cause of readmission and return to operating room. The cost for index hospitalization, readmission episode, and total cost were derived based on the charges obtained from administrative data. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted. RESULTS Of 536 patients readmitted in total, 17.9% (n = 96) were readmitted within 90 days. Of the overall readmissions, 11.9% (n = 64) were readmitted within 30 days, and 5.97% (n = 32) were readmitted between 31 and 90 days. The median duration between discharge and readmission was 20 days (first quartile [Q1]: 9 days, third quartile [Q3]: 36 days). The most common reason for readmission was shunt related (8.2%, n = 44), followed by wound infection (4.7%, n = 25). In the risk-adjusted multivariable logistic regression model for total 90-day readmission, patients with the following characteristics: younger age (p = 0.001, OR 0.886, 95% CI 0.824-0.952); "other" (nonwhite, nonblack) race (p = 0.024, OR 5.49, 95% CI 1.246-24.2); and those born preterm (p = 0.032, OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-4.12) had higher odds of being readmitted within 90 days after discharge. The total median cost for patients undergoing surgery in this study cohort was $11,520 (Q1: $7103, Q3: $19,264). For the patients who were readmitted, the median cost for a readmission episode was $8981 (Q1: $5051, Q3: $18,713). CONCLUSIONS Unplanned 90-day readmissions in pediatric neurosurgery are primarily due to CSF-related complications. Patients with the following characteristics: young age at presentation; "other" race; and children born preterm have a higher likelihood of being readmitted within 90 days after surgery. The median cost was > $8000, which suggests that the readmission episode can be as expensive as the index hospitalization. Clearly, readmission reduction has the potential for significant cost savings in pediatric neurosurgery. Future efforts, such as targeted education related to complication signs, should be considered in the attempt to reduce unplanned events. Given the single-center, retrospective study design, the results of this study are primarily applicable to this population and cannot necessarily be generalized to other institutions without further study.

Objective: To quantify the proportion of academic neurosurgeons practicing in the United States who acquired residency training outside of the United States and compare their training backgrounds and academic success with those who received their residency training in the United States., Methods: We identified 1338 clinically active academic neurosurgeons from 104 programs that participated in the neurosurgery residency match in the United States in January-February 2015. Their training backgrounds, current academic positions, and history of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant awards between 2005 and 2014 were retrieved from publicly accessible sources., Results: Eighty-four U.S. academic neurosurgeons (6.3%) received their residency training in 20 different countries outside of the United States/Puerto Rico, representing all major regions of the world. The majority trained in Canada (n = 48). We found no major differences between the foreign-trained and U.S.-trained neurosurgeons in male:female ratio, year of starting residency, proportion with positions in medical schools ranked in the top 15 by the U.S. News and World Report, general distribution of academic positions, and proportion with an NIH grant. Compared with U.S.-trained academic neurosurgeons, foreign-trained academic neurosurgeons had a significantly higher proportion of Ph.D. degrees (32.1% vs. 12.3%; P < 0.0001) and held more associate professorships (34.5% vs. 23.1%; P = 0.02). The academic practices of the foreign-trained neurosurgeons were widely distributed throughout the United States., Conclusions: A small group of U.S. academic neurosurgeons (6.3%) have acquired residency training outside of the United States, representing all major regions of the world. Their general demographic data and academic accomplishments are comparable to those of U.S.-trained neurosurgeons., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The authors present a case of monozygotic twins with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) who experienced cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) hemorrhage at a very young age. The clinical variables influencing HHT-related AVM rupture are discussed, and questions surrounding the timing of screening and intervention are explored. This is only the second known case of monozygotic HHT twins published in the medical literature, and the youngest pair of first-degree relatives to experience AVM-related cerebral hemorrhage. Evidence guiding the screening and management of familial HHT is lacking, and cases such as this underscore the need for objective and validated protocols.

OBJECTIVE The authors aimed to provide an updated and consolidated report on the epidemiology, management, and functional outcome of cases of myelomeningocele (MMC) in patients with scoliosis. METHODS A comprehensive literature search was performed using MEDLINE, Embase, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews on cases of MMC in patients with scoliosis between 1980 and 2016. The initial search yielded 670 reports. After removing duplicates and applying inclusion criteria, we included 32 full-text original articles in this study. RESULTS Pooled statistical analysis of the included articles revealed the prevalence of scoliosis in MMC patients to be 53% (95% CI 0.42-0.64). Slightly more females (56%) are affected with both MMC and scoliosis than males. Motor level appears to be a significant predictor of prevalence, but not severity, of scoliosis in MMC patients. Treatment options for these patients include tethered cord release (TCR) and fusion surgeries. Curvature improvement and stabilization after TCR may be limited to patients with milder (< 50°) curves. Meanwhile, more aggressive fusion procedures such as a combined anterior-posterior approach may result in more favorable long-term scoliosis correction, albeit with greater complication rates. Quality of life metrics including ambulatory status and sitting stability are influenced by motor level of the lesion as well as the degree of the scoliosis curvature. CONCLUSIONS Scoliosis is among the most common and challenging comorbidities from which patients with MMC suffer. Although important epidemiological and management trends are evident, larger, prospective studies are needed to discover ways to more accurately counsel and more optimally treat these patients.

OBJECTIVE Previous Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) retrospective studies have shown a 15% difference in rates of conversion to permanent shunts with the use of ventriculosubgaleal shunts (VSGSs) versus ventricular reservoirs (VRs) as temporization procedures in the treatment of hydrocephalus due to high-grade intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) of prematurity. Further research in the same study line revealed a strong influence of center-specific decision-making on shunt outcomes. The primary goal of this prospective study was to standardize decision-making across centers to determine true procedural superiority, if any, of VSGS versus VR as a temporization procedure in high-grade IVH of prematurity. METHODS The HCRN conducted a prospective cohort study across 6 centers with an approximate 1.5- to 3-year accrual period (depending on center) followed by 6 months of follow-up. Infants with premature birth, who weighed less than 1500 g, had Grade 3 or 4 IVH of prematurity, and had more than 72 hours of life expectancy were included in the study. Based on a priori consensus, decisions were standardized regarding the timing of initial surgical treatment, upfront shunt versus temporization procedure (VR or VSGS), and when to convert a VR or VSGS to a permanent shunt. Physical examination assessment and surgical technique were also standardized. The primary outcome was the proportion of infants who underwent conversion to a permanent shunt. The major secondary outcomes of interest included infection and other complication rates. RESULTS One hundred forty-five premature infants were enrolled and met criteria for analysis. Using the standardized decision rubrics, 28 infants never reached the threshold for treatment, 11 initially received permanent shunts, 4 were initially treated with endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), and 102 underwent a temporization procedure (36 with VSGSs and 66 with VRs). The 2 temporization cohorts were similar in terms of sex, race, IVH grade, head (orbitofrontal) circumference, and ventricular size at temporization. There were statistically significant differences noted between groups in gestational age, birth weight, and bilaterality of clot burden that were controlled for in post hoc analysis. By Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 180-day rates of conversion to permanent shunts were 63.5% for VSGS and 74.0% for VR (p = 0.36, log-rank test). The infection rate for VSGS was 14% (5/36) and for VR was 17% (11/66; p = 0.71). The overall compliance rate with the standardized decision rubrics was noted to be 90% for all surgeons. CONCLUSIONS A standardized protocol was instituted across all centers of the HCRN. Compliance was high. Choice of temporization techniques in premature infants with IVH does not appear to influence rates of conversion to permanent ventricular CSF diversion. Once management decisions and surgical techniques are standardized across HCRN sites, thus minimizing center effect, the observed difference in conversion rates between VSGSs and VRs is mitigated.

OBJECTIVE Up to one-third of patients with a posterior fossa brain tumor (PFBT) will experience persistent hydrocephalus mandating permanent CSF diversion. The optimal hydrocephalus treatment modality is unknown; the authors sought to compare the durability between endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) and ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) therapy in the pediatric population. METHODS The authors conducted a systematic review of articles indexed in PubMed between 1986 and 2016 describing ETV and/or VPS treatment success/failure and time-to-failure rate in patients < 19 years of age with hydrocephalus related to a PFBT. Additionally, the authors conducted a retrospective review of their institutional series of PFBT patients requiring CSF diversion. Patient data from the systematic review and from the institutional series were aggregated and a time-to-failure analysis was performed comparing ETV and VPS using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS A total of 408 patients were included from 12 studies and the authors' institutional series: 284 who underwent ETV and 124 who underwent VPS placement. The analysis included uncontrolled studies with variable method and timing of CSF diversion and were subject to surgeon bias. No significant differences between cohorts were observed with regard to age, sex, tumor grade or histology, metastatic status, or extent of resection. The cumulative failure rate of ETV was 21%, whereas that of VPS surgery was 29% (p = 0.105). The median time to failure was earlier for ETV than for VPS surgery (0.82 [IQR 0.2-1.8] vs 4.7 months [IQR 0.3-5.7], p = 0.03). Initially the ETV survival curve dropped sharply and then stabilized around 2 months. The VPS curve fell gradually but eventually crossed below the ETV curve at 5.7 months. Overall, a significant survival advantage was not demonstrated for one procedure over the other (p = 0.21, log-rank). However, postoperative complications were higher following VPS (31%) than ETV (17%) (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS ETV failure occurred sooner than VPS failure, but long-term treatment durability may be higher for ETV. Complications occurred more commonly with VPS than with ETV. Limited clinical conclusions are drawn using this methodology; the optimal treatment for PFBT-related hydrocephalus warrants investigation through prospective studies.

Background: Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are frequently administered prophylactically to mitigate seizures following craniotomy for brain tumor resection. However, conflicting evidence exists regarding the efficacy of AEDs, and their influence on surgery-related outcomes is limited., Objective: To evaluate the influence of perioperative AEDs on postoperative seizure rate and hospital-reported quality metrics., Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, incorporating all adult patients who underwent craniotomy for glioma resection at our institution between 1999 and 2014. Patients in 2 cohorts-those receiving and those not receiving prophylactic AEDs-were compared on the incidence of postoperative seizures and several hospital quality metrics including length of stay, discharge status, and use of hospital resources., Results: Among 342 patients with glioma undergoing cytoreductive surgery, 301 (88%) received AED prophylaxis and 41 (12%) did not. Seventeen patients (5.6%) in the prophylaxis group developed a seizure within 14 days of surgery, compared with 1 (2.4%) in the standard group (OR = 2.2, 95% CI [0.3-17.4]). Median hospital and intensive care unit lengths of stay were similar between the cohorts. There was also no difference in the rate at which patients presented within 90 days postoperatively to the emergency department or required hospital readmission. In addition, the rate of hospital resource consumption, including electroencephalogram and computed tomography scan acquisition, and neurology consultation, was similar between both groups., Conclusion: The administration of prophylactic AEDs following glioma surgery did not influence the rate of perioperative seizures, nor did it reduce healthcare resource consumption. The role of perioperative seizure prophylaxis should be closely reexamined, and reconsideration given to this commonplace practice., (Copyright © 2016 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons)

Purpose: We evaluate a single-institution cohort of mothers contemporaneous with the Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) trial to determine the generalizability of MOMS results and compare shunt rates., Methods: A retrospective chart review identified patients with myelomeningocele born between 2003 and 2009. We applied MOMS eligibility criteria and compared sociodemographic variables between patients at our institution who would have been eligible or ineligible and MOMS participants. Finally, we applied the original MOMS primary outcome and the revised primary outcome to our cohort., Results: Of the 78 patients, 55 (70.5%) were eligible for the MOMS trial. Mean maternal age, race, and marital status were different from both MOMS groups. Comparing our series to MOMS postnatal shows fewer female infants (44.9 vs. 63.8%, p = 0.017) and more thoracic lesions (12.8 vs. 3.8%, p = 0.038). Shunt rates in our cohort (84.6%) were higher than MOMS prenatal and similar to MOMS postnatal (44.0 and 83.7%, respectively). Fewer children met the original primary outcome than the postnatal group (84.6 vs. 97.8%, p = 0.002). There was no significant difference between our cohort and the prenatal group (84.6 vs. 72.5%, p = 0.058). When applying the revised criteria, we find the opposite: a significant difference between local and MOMS prenatal (84.6 vs. 49.5%, p < 0.001) but no difference between the local group and MOMS postnatal (84.6 vs. 87.0%, p = 0.662)., Conclusions: Mothers in our cohort differ from mothers enrolled in MOMS via several sociodemographic factors. Baseline fetal characteristics show a significantly higher functional lesion level in between our cohort and MOMS. Treatment of hydrocephalus in our series tracks almost identically with original MOMS shunt criteria. Revision of the criteria led to greater concordance between meeting criteria and receiving a shunt in MOMS patients, but changes the results in our series.

OBJECTIVE Accurate placement of ventricular catheters may result in prolonged shunt survival, but the best target for the hole-bearing segment of the catheter has not been rigorously defined. The goal of the study was to define a target within the ventricle with the lowest risk of shunt failure. METHODS Five catheter placement variables (ventricular catheter tip location, ventricular catheter tip environment, relationship to choroid plexus, catheter tip holes within ventricle, and crosses midline) were defined, assessed for interobserver agreement, and evaluated for their effect on shunt survival in univariate and multivariate analyses. De-identified subjects from the Shunt Design Trial, the Endoscopic Shunt Insertion Trial, and a Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network study on ultrasound-guided catheter placement were combined (n = 858 subjects, all first-time shunt insertions, all patients < 18 years old). The first postoperative brain imaging study was used to determine ventricular catheter placement for each of the catheter placement variables. RESULTS Ventricular catheter tip location, environment, catheter tip holes within the ventricle, and crosses midline all achieved sufficient interobserver agreement (κ > 0.60). In the univariate survival analysis, however, only ventricular catheter tip location was useful in distinguishing a target within the ventricle with a survival advantage (frontal horn; log-rank, p = 0.0015). None of the other catheter placement variables yielded a significant survival advantage unless they were compared with catheter tips completely not in the ventricle. Cox regression analysis was performed, examining ventricular catheter tip location with age, etiology, surgeon, decade of surgery, and catheter entry site (anterior vs posterior). Only age (p < 0.001) and entry site (p = 0.005) were associated with shunt survival; ventricular catheter tip location was not (p = 0.37). Anterior entry site lowered the risk of shunt failure compared with posterior entry site by approximately one-third (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.51-0.83). CONCLUSIONS This analysis failed to identify an ideal target within the ventricle for the ventricular catheter tip. Unexpectedly, the choice of an anterior versus posterior catheter entry site was more important in determining shunt survival than the location of the ventricular catheter tip within the ventricle. Entry site may represent a modifiable risk factor for shunt failure, but, due to inherent limitations in study design and previous clinical research on entry site, a randomized controlled trial is necessary before treatment recommendations can be made.

Objectives: To describe the variation in approaches to surgical and antibiotic treatment for first cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt infection and adherence to Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines., Study Design: We conducted a prospective cohort study of children undergoing treatment for first CSF infection at 7 Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network hospitals from April 2008 through December 2012. Univariate analyses were performed to describe the study population., Results: A total of 151 children underwent treatment for first CSF shunt-related infection. Most children had undergone initial CSF shunt placement before the age of 6 months (n =  98, 65%). Median time to infection after shunt surgery was 28 days (IQR 15-52 days). Surgical management was most often shunt removal with interim external ventricular drain placement, followed by new shunt insertion (n = 122, 81%). Median time from first negative CSF culture to final surgical procedure was 14 days (IQR 10-21 days). Median duration of intravenous (IV) antibiotic use duration was 19 days (IQR 12-28 days). For 84 infections addressed by IDSA guidelines, 7 (8%) met guidelines and 61 (73%) had longer duration of IV antibiotic use than recommended., Conclusions: Surgical treatment for infection frequently adheres to IDSA guidelines of shunt removal with external ventricular drain placement followed by new shunt insertion. However, duration of IV antibiotic use in CSF shunt infection treatment was consistently longer than recommended by the 2004 IDSA guidelines., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

OBJECTIVE Endoscopic third ventriculostomy with choroid plexus cauterization (ETV/CPC) offers an alternative to shunt treatment for infantile hydrocephalus. Diagnosing treatment failure is dependent on infantile hydrocephalus metrics, including head circumference, fontanel quality, and ventricle size. However, it is not clear to what degree these metrics should be expected to change after ETV/CPC. Using these clinical metrics, the authors present and analyze the decision making in cases of ETV/CPC failure. METHODS Infantile hydrocephalus metrics, including bulging fontanel, head circumference z-score, and frontal and occipital horn ratio (FOHR), were compared between ETV/CPC failures and successes. Treatment outcome predictive values of metrics individually and in combination were calculated. RESULTS Forty-four patients (57% males, median age 1.2 months) underwent ETV/CPC for hydrocephalus; of these patients, 25 (57%) experienced failure at a median time of 51 days postoperatively. Patients experiencing failure were younger than those experiencing successful treatment (0.8 vs 3.9 months, p = 0.01). During outpatient follow-up, bulging anterior fontanel, progressive macrocephaly, and enlarging ventricles each demonstrated a positive predictive value (PPV) of no less than 71%, but a bulging anterior fontanel remained the most predictive indicator of ETV/CPC failure, with a PPV of 100%, negative predictive value of 73%, and sensitivity of 72%. The highest PPVs and specificities existed when the clinical metrics were present in combination, although sensitivities decreased expectedly. Only 48% of failures were diagnosed on the basis all 3 hydrocephalus metrics, while only 37% of successes were negative for all 3 metrics. In the remaining 57% of patients, a diagnosis of success or failure was made in the presence of discordant data. CONCLUSIONS Successful ETV/CPC for infantile hydrocephalus was evaluated in relation to fontanel status, head growth, and change in ventricular size. In most patients, a designation of failure or success was made in the setting of discordant data.

OBJECTIVE Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is now established as a viable treatment option for a subgroup of children with hydrocephalus. Here, the authors report prospective, multicenter results from the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) to provide the most accurate determination of morbidity, complication incidence, and efficacy of ETV in children and to determine if intraoperative predictors of ETV success add substantially to preoperative predictors. METHODS All children undergoing a first ETV (without choroid plexus cauterization) at 1 of 7 HCRN centers up to June 2013 were included in the study and followed up for a minimum of 18 months. Data, including detailed intraoperative data, were prospectively collected as part of the HCRN's Core Data Project and included details of patient characteristics, ETV failure (need for repeat hydrocephalus surgery), and, in a subset of patients, postoperative complications up to the time of discharge. RESULTS Three hundred thirty-six eligible children underwent initial ETV, 18.8% of whom had undergone shunt placement prior to the ETV. The median age at ETV was 6.9 years (IQR 1.7-12.6), with 15.2% of the study cohort younger than 12 months of age. The most common etiologies were aqueductal stenosis (24.8%) and midbrain or tectal lesions (21.2%). Visible forniceal injury (16.6%) was more common than previously reported, whereas severe bleeding (1.8%), thalamic contusion (1.8%), venous injury (1.5%), hypothalamic contusion (1.5%), and major arterial injury (0.3%) were rare. The most common postoperative complications were CSF leak (4.4%), hyponatremia (3.9%), and pseudomeningocele (3.9%). New neurological deficit occurred in 1.5% cases, with 0.5% being permanent. One hundred forty-one patients had documented failure of their ETV requiring repeat hydrocephalus surgery during follow-up, 117 of them during the first 6 months postprocedure. Kaplan-Meier rates of 30-day, 90-day, 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year failure-free survival were 73.7%, 66.7%, 64.8%, 61.7%, and 57.8%, respectively. According to multivariate modeling, the preoperative ETV Success Score (ETVSS) was associated with ETV success (p < 0.001), as was the intraoperative ability to visualize a "naked" basilar artery (p = 0.023). CONCLUSIONS The authors' documented experience represents the most detailed account of ETV results in North America and provides the most accurate picture to date of ETV success and complications, based on contemporaneously collected prospective data. Serious complications with ETV are low. In addition to the ETVSS, visualization of a naked basilar artery is predictive of ETV success.

OBJECTIVE Disparities in surgical access and timing to care result from a combination of complex patient, social, and institutional factors. Due to the perception of delayed presentation for overall health care services and treatment in African American patients on the part of the senior author, this study was designed to identify and quantify these differences in access and care between African American and Caucasian children with craniosynostosis. In addition, hypotheses regarding reasons for this difference are discussed. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted of 132 children between the ages of 0 and 17 years old who previously underwent operations for craniosynostosis at a tertiary pediatric care facility between 2010 and 2013. Patient and family characteristics, age at surgical consultation and time to surgery, and distance to primary care providers and the tertiary center were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS Of the 132 patients in this cohort, 88% were Caucasian and 12% were African American. The median patient age was 5 months (interquartile range [IQR] 2-8 months). African Americans had a significantly greater age at consult compared with Caucasians (median 341 days [IQR 192-584 days] vs median 137 days [IQR 62-235 days], respectively; p = 0.0012). However, after being evaluated in consultation, there was no significant difference in time to surgery between African American and Caucasian patients (median 56 days [IQR 36-98 days] vs median 64 days [IQR 43-87 days], respectively). Using regression analysis, race and type of synostoses were found to be significantly associated with a longer wait time for surgical consultation (p = 0.01 and p = 0.04, respectively, using cutoff points of ≤ 180 days vs > 180 days). Distance traveled to primary care physicians and to the tertiary care facility did not significantly differ between groups. Other factors such as parental education, insurance type, household income, and referring physician type also showed no significant difference between racial groups. CONCLUSIONS This study identified a correlation between race and age at consultation, but no association with time to surgery, distance, or family characteristics such as household income, parental education, insurance type, and referring physician type. This finding implies that delays in early health-seeking behaviors and subsequent referral to surgical specialists from primary care providers are the main reason for this delay among African American craniofacial patients. Future studies should focus on further detail in regards to these barriers, and educational efforts should be designed for the community and the health care personnel caring for them.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common condition affecting children all over the world, and it represents a global public health concern. It is unclear how geopolitical, societal, and ethnic differences may influence the nature of TBI among children., Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted incorporating studies with hospital-, regional-, or country-specific pediatric TBI epidemiology data published between 1995 and 2015. Incidence, age, severity, mechanism of injury, and other relevant injury characteristics were extracted and compared across diverse geographic regions., Results: Thirty articles met inclusion criteria, incorporating TBI data from more than 165,000 children on 5 continents. The worldwide incidence of pediatric TBI ranges broadly and varies greatly by country, with most reporting a range between 47 and 280 per 100,000 children. After the age of 3, male children suffered higher rates of TBI than females. A bimodal age distribution is often described, with very young children (0-2 years) and adolescents (15-18) more commonly injured. Mild TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale ≥13) constitutes more than 80% of injuries, and up to 90% of all injuries are associated with negative imaging. Only a small fraction (<10%) requires surgical intervention. Independent of country or region of origin, the vast majority of children suffering TBI achieve a good clinical outcome. Hospital admission rates vary widely, with U.S. patients more commonly admitted than those from other countries. Falls and motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) represent the majority of injury mechanisms. In Africa and Asia, pedestrians were most commonly injured in MVCs, while vehicle occupants were more likely involved among Australian, European, and U.S., Populations: For children, nonaccidental trauma was prevalent in developing and developed nations alike., Conclusions: TBI is a relatively common entity stretching across traditional geographic and demographic boundaries and affecting pediatric populations worldwide. Continued civil infrastructure development and public health policy reforms may help to reduce the societal burden of pediatric TBI., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)