Programmed cell death is crucial for the correct development of the organism and the clearance of harmful cells like tumor cells or autoreactive immune cells. Apoptosis is initiated by the activation of cell death receptors and in most cases it is associated with the activation of the cysteine proteases, which lead to apoptotic cell death. Cells shrink, chromatin clumps and forms a large, sharply demarcated, crescent-shaped or round mass; the nucleus condenses, apoptotic bodies are formed and eventually dead cells are engulfed by a neighboring cell or cleared by phagocytosis. The authors have summarized the most important data concerning apoptosis in subarachnoid hemorrhage that have been issued in the medical literature in the last 20 years.

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Hydrocephalus is a medical condition consisting of an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure, progressive enlargement of the head, followed by ischemia, convulsions, tunnel vision, and mental disability and even death. This affection usually appears due to the blockage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow in the ventricles or in the subarachnoid space surrounding the brain. In a person without hydrocephalus, CSF continuously circulates through and around the brain, its ventricles and the spinal cord and is continuously drained away into the circulatory system. Alternatively, the condition may result from an overproduction of the CSF, from a congenital malformation blocking normal drainage of the fluid, or from complications of head injuries or infections.In the treatment of hydrocephalus, the implementation of perfectly tolerable materials enables surgeons to carry out a progressive drainage of excess cerebrospinal fluid towards other cavities of the body. By today’s standards silicone based biomaterials are the sum of all progress in biomaterial science, immunology and pathology. Lack of an immune signature, chemical and biological stability, perfect adhesion resistance and many more ultrastructure-related features come as perfect proof for the impact material science has on medicine. Future biomaterials, coated with antibiotics or antibodies are now closer than ever to be implemented in medicine.

Cervical disc herniations represent the most frequent cervical-level pathology in patients aged 40 and above. Symptoms usually include C6-C7 radiculopathy, which has a prevalence of 3.3/1000 individuals. There still is a debate on whether any gender is more frequently affected, as some authors report women are more frequently affected [2, 3] while others claim both genders are equally affected. Ever since the 1950s the standard treatment for such patients was represented by Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF), however, concern for the development of adjacent level degeneration after the fusion of mobile vertebral segments has increased the interest in developing new dynamic disc prostheses designed to mimic the functions and natural motion of the spine. The purpose of this paper is to summarize, in a comprehensive literature-review-type article, the existing data regarding the ProDisc-C spinal implant within the OVID, SCOPUS and MEDLINE databases while at the same time presenting the personal experience of the authors using the above-mentioned implant.