OBJECTIVEIntracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) provides valuable information that guides clinical decision-making in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery, but it carries technical challenges and risks. The technical approaches used and reported rates of complications vary across institutions and evolve over time with increasing experience. In this report, the authors describe the strategy at the University of Iowa using both surface and depth electrodes and analyze outcomes and complications.METHODSThe authors performed a retrospective review and analysis of all patients who underwent craniotomy and electrode implantation from January 2006 through December 2015 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The basic demographic and clinical information was collected, including electrode coverage, monitoring results, outcomes, and complications. The correlations between clinically significant complications with various clinical variables were analyzed using multivariate analysis. The Fisher exact test was used to evaluate a change in the rate of complications over the study period.RESULTSNinety-one patients (mean age 29 ± 14 years, range 3–62 years), including 22 pediatric patients, underwent iEEG. Subdural surface (grid and/or strip) electrodes were utilized in all patients, and depth electrodes were also placed in 89 (97.8%) patients. The total number of electrode contacts placed per patient averaged 151 ± 58. The duration of invasive monitoring averaged 12.0 ± 5.1 days. In 84 (92.3%) patients, a seizure focus was localized by ictal onset (82 cases) or inferred based on interictal discharges (2 patients). Localization was achieved based on data obtained from surface electrodes alone (29 patients), depth electrodes alone (13 patients), or a combination of both surface and depth electrodes (42 patients). Seventy-two (79.1%) patients ultimately underwent resective surgery. Forty-seven (65.3%) and 18 (25.0%) patients achieved modified Engel class I and II outcomes, respectively. The mean follow-up duration was 3.9 ± 2.9 (range 0.1–10.5) years. Clinically significant complications occurred in 8 patients, including hematoma in 3 (3.3%) patients, infection/osteomyelitis in 3 (3.3%) patients, and edema/compression in 2 (2.2%) patients. One patient developed a permanent neurological deficit (1.1%), and there were no deaths. The hemorrhagic and edema/compression complications correlated significantly with the total number of electrode contacts (p = 0.01), but not with age, a history of prior cranial surgery, laterality, monitoring duration, and the number of each electrode type. The small number of infectious complications precluded multivariate analysis. The number of complications decreased from 5 of 36 cases (13.9%) to 3 of 55 cases (5.5%) during the first and last 5 years, respectively, but this change was not statistically significant (p = 0.26).CONCLUSIONSAn iEEG implantation strategy that makes use of both surface and depth electrodes is safe and effective at identifying seizure foci in patients with medically refractory epilepsy. With experience and iterative refinement of technical surgical details, the risk of complications has decreased over time.

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Research has demonstrated a strong positive association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and physical pain. However, few studies have explored the impact of pain problems on the symptoms and treatment of PTSD, and results remain inconsistent. This longitudinal study examined whether trauma-related and trauma-unrelated pain differentially and uniquely predicted reexperiencing symptoms. We also examined whether levels of reexperiencing symptoms mediated the relationship between pain intensity and posttreatment symptoms of avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal (ANH). Analyses were conducted using archival data from 99 treatment-seeking veterans who reported the etiology and intensity of their pain and severity of PTSD symptoms pre- and posttreatment. Among veterans with trauma-related pain, pain intensity (a) uniquely corresponded to greater posttreatment reexperiencing symptoms (b = 1.09), and (b) was indirectly predictive of ANH symptoms via the reexperiencing symptoms (b = 1.93). However, veterans with trauma-unrelated pain evidenced no associations between pain intensity and reexperiencing (b = 0.04) or ANH symptoms (b = 0.06). We thus found that trauma-related pain was indirectly related to poor PTSD treatment outcomes via reexperiencing symptoms. These findings offer additional insight into factors that may influence PTSD treatment outcomes for pain-suffering trauma survivors.

Our results support the conclusion that FDG uptake asymmetry is a useful clinical tool in assessing risk for cognitive changes in patients being considered for TL.

There have been no previous reports of recurrence of renosplenic entrapment following procedures to permanently ablate the renosplenic space. Recurrence in this patient may be attributed to the horse's young age at the time of initial surgery or inadequate size or spacing of the sutures through the perirenal fascia and splenic capsule.