BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Five commercial devices are available for mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke. This study evaluated and compared the resultant arterial damage from these devices.

Middle- and inner-ear surgery is a vital treatment option in hearing loss, infections, and tumors of the lateral skull base. Segmentation of otologic structures from computed tomography (CT) has many potential applications for improving surgical planning but can be an arduous and time-consuming task. We propose an end-to-end solution for the automated segmentation of temporal bone CT using convolutional neural networks (CNN). Using 150 manually segmented CT scans, a comparison of 3 CNN models (AH-Net, U-Net, ResNet) was conducted to compare Dice coefficient, Hausdorff distance, and speed of segmentation of the inner ear, ossicles, facial nerve and sigmoid sinus. Using AH-Net, the Dice coefficient was 0.91 for the inner ear; 0.85 for the ossicles; 0.75 for the facial nerve; and 0.86 for the sigmoid sinus. The average Hausdorff distance was 0.25, 0.21, 0.24 and 0.45 mm, respectively. Blinded experts assessed the accuracy of both techniques, and there was no statistical difference between the ratings for the two methods (p = 0.93). Objective and subjective assessment confirm good correlation between automated segmentation of otologic structures and manual segmentation performed by a specialist. This end-to-end automated segmentation pipeline can help to advance the systematic application of augmented reality, simulation, and automation in otologic procedures.

BackgroundChronic subdural hematomas (CSDHs) are common in neurosurgical practice. There are no publications that report large series of the epidemiological characteristics of this pathology in Brazil. The purpose is to describe a large series of surgical cases and analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed patients with CSDH admitted into Neurosurgical Services at the Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal, Brasília, Brazil from 2006 to 2011. Age, sex, clinical feature, etiology, surgical procedure, side, clinical outcome, and recurrence were reviewed. Statistical tests were used to analyze data, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsThe series included 778 patients. There were 643 (82.6%) male patients with a mean age of 64.3 ± 15.9 (range, 14–93) years. The principal symptom was headache (58.9%). The most frequent origin was a fall (282 cases, 36.2%), but the origin remained unclear in 281 (36.1%) patients. Mild head injury occurred in 540 (69.4%) cases. Burr holes with drainage were used as the surgical procedure in 96.5% patients, and 687 (88.3%) patients had a positive outcome. Mortality was 0%. Recurrence was observed in 42 cases.ConclusionsThe occurrence of CSDHs is more common in elderly men. Treatment with burr holes and drainage is a simple and safe method for treatment. In our experience, CSDH presents decreased morbidity and mortality.

The transvenous approach using Onyx for the management of BAVMs is shown to be an efficient and safe alternative treatment in cases with no other conventional therapeutic choice and when some anatomic considerations are respected.

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