Management of Ruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations

Intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are a common cause of stroke in younger patients, and often present as intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH), associated with 10 % to 30 % mortality. Patients who present with a hemorrhage from an AVM should be initially stabilized according to acute management guidelines for ICH. The characteristics of a lesion including its size, location in eloquent tissue, and high-risk features will influence risk of rupture, prognosis, as well as help guide management decisions. Given that rupture is associated with an increased risk of 6 % re-rupture in the year following the initial hemorrhage, versus 1 % to 3 % predicted annual risk in non-ruptured lesions only, definitive treatment is encouraged after ICH stabilization. A rest period of 2 to 6 weeks after hemorrhage is recommended before definitive treatment to avoid disrupting friable parenchyma and the hematoma. Treatment may consist of endovascular embolization, surgical resection, radiosurgery, or a combination of these three interventions based on the lesion.     

Who needs myopia control?

Myopia has become a major visual disorder among school-aged children in East Asia due to its rising prevalence over the past few decades and will continue to be a leading health issue with an annual incidence as high as 20%-30%. Although various interventions have been proposed for myopia control, consensus in treatment strategies has yet to be fully developed. Atropine and orthokeratology stand out for their effectiveness in myopia progression control, but children with rapid progression of myopia require treatment with higher concentrations of atropine that are associated with increased rates of side effects, or with orthokeratology that carries risk of significant complication. Therefore, improved risk assessment for myopia onset and progression in children is critical in clinical decision-making. Besides traditional prediction models based on genetic effects and environmental exposures within populations, individualized prediction using machine learning and data based on age-specific refraction is promising. Although emerging treatments for myopia are promising and some have been incorporated into clinical practice, identifying populations who require and benefit from intervention remains the most important initial step for clinical practice.     

Neurophysiologic Monitoring Can Predict Iatrogenic Injury During Acetabular and Pelvic Fracture Fixation

Background:

Nerve injury during acetabular and pelvic fracture fixation can have devastating consequences for trauma patients already in a compromised situation.

Questions/Purposes:

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of multimodality intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring during acetabular and pelvic fracture fixation in identifying emerging iatrogenic nerve injury.

Methods:

Sixty patients were retrospectively identified after surgical fixation following acetabular or pelvic fracture. Neuromonitoring during surgery was performed using three different modalities, transcranial electric motor evoked potential (tceMEP), somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP), and electromyographic (EMG) monitoring. Each modality was evaluated for sensitivity and specificity of detecting an intraoperative nerve injury.

Results:

tceMEP monitoring was found to be 100% sensitive and 86% specific at detecting an impending nerve injury. The sensitivity and specificity of SSEP were 75% and 94%, while EMG sensitivity was unacceptably low at 20% although specificity was 93%.

Conclusions:

Multimodality neuromonitoring of transcranial electric motor and peroneal nerve somatosensory evoked potentials with or without spontaneous EMG monitoring is a safe and effective method for detecting impending nerve injury during acetabular and pelvic surgery.