Pineal tumors are relatively rare central nervous system lesions with a predilection for the pediatric population. For the vast majority of these lesions, surgical resection is a critical step in effective treatment. This article discusses current strategies for preoperative evaluation, operative management, and postoperative care of the pediatric patient with a newly diagnosed pineal region [...]

The present review assesses how to make pineal surgery, refined over decades, better, ie, less invasive, while still respecting this delicate region, and achieving anatomic and oncologic goals. An explication of anatomic principles of this region, and some basic surgical principles of keyhole surgery are provided to further assist those interested in minimizing surgical impact [...]

Pineocytoma is a rare tumor; therefore, assimilating data from case reports and small case series to generate definitive treatment guidelines is difficult. The authors recently systematically reviewed the existing literature on outcomes for patients with pineocytoma. Gross total resection is associated with significantly increased tumor control and survival compared with subtotal resection combined with radiotherapy. [...]

The role of radiosurgery in the management of pineal region tumors is still in its incipient stages, although over the past few years its use has expanded, both as a primary treatment modality and as an adjunct to conventional therapies. This article gives a detailed overview of the recent literature regarding the merits of stereotactic [...]

Full article access for Neurosurgery subscribers at Neurosurgery-Online.com. Primary benign brachial plexus tumors are rare. They pose a great challenge to the neurosurgeon, as the majority of patients presents with minimal or no neurological deficits. Radical to complete excision of the tumor with preservation of neurological function of the involved nerve is an ideal surgical [...]

Research by University of Massachusetts Amherst neuroscientist Luke Remage-Healey and colleagues has for the first time provided direct evidence that estrogens are produced in the brain’s nerve cell terminals on demand, very quickly and precisely where needed. “This is an incredibly precise control mechanism and it solidifies a new role for estrogens in the brain,” [...]

An international panel has revised and simplified the “McDonald Criteria” commonly used to diagnose multiple sclerosis, incorporating new data that should speed the diagnosis without compromising accuracy… http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/218783.php

[youtube http://youtube.com/w/?v=KrGkGPR5hs0] illustrates intra-operative querying of white matter tracts during a case of tumor resection. This information has been taken from Intra-operative Real-time Querying of White Matter Tracts: Frameless Stereotactic Neuronavigation. It was submitted by corresponding author Alexandra Golby, MD, from the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in [...]

Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Volume 14, Issue 6, Page 726-733, June 2011. Takahito Fujimori, M.D., Motoki Iwasaki, M.D., Ph.D., Shinya Okuda, M.D., Ph.D., Yukitaka Nagamoto, M.D., Hironobu Sakaura, M.D., Ph.D., Takenori Oda, M.D., Ph.D., and Hideki Yoshikawa, M.D., Ph.D. Object Surgical results in cervical myelopathy caused by ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) evaluated [...]

Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Volume 14, Issue 6, Page 765-770, June 2011. Daniel P. Davis, M.D., Anthony Salazar, M.D., Theodore C. Chan, M.D., and Gary M. Vilke, M.D. Object A spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is rare but potentially devastating if not diagnosed early. Unfortunately, diagnostic delays and associated neurological deficits are common. The objectives of [...]