Object Intraoperative monitoring of the spinal cord has become the standard of care during surgery for pediatric spinal deformity correction. The use of both somatosensory and motor evoked potentials has dramatically increased the sensitivity and specificity of detecting intraoperative neurophysiological changes to the spinal cord, which assists in the intraoperative decision-making process. The authors report on a large, single-center experience with neuromonitoring changes and outline the surgical management of patients who experience significant neuromonitoring changes during spinal deformity correction surgery. Methods The authors conducted a retrospective review of all cases involving pediatric patients who underwent spinal deformity correction surgery at Shriners Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, between January 2007 and March 2010. Five hundred nineteen consecutive cases were reviewed in which neuromonitoring was used, with 47 cases being identified as having significant changes in somatosensory evoked potentials, motor evoked potentials, or both. These cases were reviewed for patient demographic data and surgical characteristics. Results The incidence of significant neuromonitoring changes was 9.1% (47 of 519 cases), including 6 cases of abnormal Stagnara wake-up tests, of which 4 had corroborated postoperative neurological deficits (8.5% of 47 cases, 0.8% of 519). In response to neuromonitoring changes, wake-up tests were performed in 37 (79%) of 47 cases, hardware was adjusted in 15 (32%), anesthesiology interventions were reported in 5 (11%), hardware was removed in 5 (11%), the patient was successfully repositioned in 3 (6%), and the procedure was aborted in 13 (28%). In 1 of the 4 patients with new postoperative deficits, the deficit had fully resolved by the last follow-up; the other 3 patients had persistent neurological impairment as of the most recent follow-up examination. The authors observed a sensitivity of 100% for intraoperative neuromonitoring. Conclusions Due to the profound risks associated with spinal deformity surgery, intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring is an integral tool to warn of impending spinal cord injury. Intraoperative neuromonitoring appears to provide a safe and useful warning mechanism to minimize spinal cord injury that may arise during scoliosis correction surgery in pediatric patients.

Objective: This work evaluated the mortality and functional outcomes of premature infants sustaining intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). These outcomes were analyzed for their association with IVH severity, development of hydrocephalus and need for ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt insertion. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of neonates at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario who sustained IVH (1989–2005). Logistic regression tested demographic predictors of IVH severity, development of hydrocephalus and mortality. χ² analysis differentiated functional outcomes and mortality by IVH grade, development of hydrocephalus and intervention for cerebrospinal fluid diversion. All analyses used the 0.05 significance level. Results: Data were available for 284 patients with an average follow-up of 5.1 years. These were distributed as grade I (n = 135), grade II (n = 52), grade III (n = 43) and grade IV (n = 54), with lower gestational age and birth weight predicting disease severity. Hydrocephalus developed in 21% of patients, of whom 39% required VP shunt insertion. Overall mortality of 20% depended on IVH grade and was highest for grade IV patients (59%). Functional independence diminished with IVH severity, and patients with hydrocephalus fared worse than those without this sequel. Outcomes of patients developing hydrocephalus were similar whether or not they eventually required VP shunt insertion. Conclusions: This study describes a large cohort of neonatal IVH, describing how disease severity affects mortality and functional outcome. The overall mortality of nearly 1 in 5 patients is primarily of grade IV patients, with no difference between grade II and grade III. Further, patients surviving their hydrocephalus exhibited no worse functional deterioration if they required surgical intervention.

The role of surgery for pediatric brain tumors is defined by tumor location, suspected histology, and patient clinical status. These tumors are frequently located in the posterior fossa and common histopathologies include medulloblastoma and astrocytoma.1 Astrocytomas are derived from neoplastic astrocytes and can be grossly divided into those that are narrowly-infiltrative with defined operative margin such as pilocytic astrocytoma, subependymal giant cell astrocytoma, pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, and those that are diffuselyinfiltrative with ill-defined operative margin such as low-grade astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytoma, and glioblastoma. Patients ABSTRACT: Introduction: Patients with low grade astrocytomas generally have good prognosis when total resection can be achieved, but surveillance neuroimaging is commonly performed to detect recurrence or progression. This study evaluated the utility and yield of such strategy for pilocytic and non-pilocytic cerebellar astrocytomas. Methods: A 20-year retrospective review was performed of patients undergoing resection of cerebellar astrocytoma at a single institution. A negative MRI string (NMS) ratio was computed as the fraction of total follow-up period over which surveillance neuroimaging was negative for recurrence or progression. Chi-squared analysis differentiated NMS ratio by resection extent and lesion histopathology. Results: Twenty-eight patients with pilocytic (n=15) and non-pilocytic (n=13) astrocytoma underwent 34 craniotomies, with total resection in 19 cases. Surveillance MRIs (n=167) among total resection patients were uniformly negative for recurrent disease at average seven years follow-up (NMS ratio = 1.0). The 43 surveillance MRIs among subtotal resection patients revealed disease progression in two patients within six months of operation (NMS ratio = 0.78, p<0.05). No differences in NMS ratio were observed between pilocytic and non-pilocytic astrocytoma subtypes. Discussion: This study illustrates pediatric patients with low-grade cerebellar astrocytomas undergoing total resection may not benefit from routine surveillance neuroimaging, primarily because of low recurrence likelihood. Patients with subtotal resection may benefit from surveillance of residual disease, with further work aimed at exploring the schedule of such follow-up.RÉSUMÉ: Surveillance postopératoire par imagerie par résonance magnétique dans l'astrocytome cérébelleux. Contexte : Les patients porteurs d'un astrocytome de bas grade ont généralement un bon pronostic quand la résection totale est possible. Cependant, une surveillance en neuroimagerie est souvent effectuée afin de détecter une récidive ou une progression. Cette étude a évalué l'utilité et le rendement d'une telle stratégie quand il s'agit d'astrocytomes pilocytiques et non pilocytiques. Méthodes : Nous avons effectué une revue rétrospective, dans une seule institution, des dossiers de patients qui avaient subi une résection d'un astrocytome cérébelleux au cours d'une période de 20 ans. Nous avons calculé un indi...

Traumatic epidural hematomas are critical emergencies in neurosurgery, and patients symptomatic from acute epidural hematomas are typically treated with rapid surgical decompression. However, some patients, if asymptomatic, may be treated with close clinical observation and serial imaging. Although rare, rapid spontaneous resolution of epidural hematomas in the pediatric population has even been reported, with only seven cases in the literature. Numerous theories have been proposed to explain the pathophysiology behind these cases, including egress of epidural collections through cranial discontinuities (fractures/open sutures), blood that originates in the subgaleal space, and bleeding from the cranial diploic cavity after a skull fracture that preferentially expands into the subgaleal space. We report the case of a rapidly resolving epidural hematoma in a 13-year-old boy. This case allows for more detailed inferences to be made concerning the nature of the epidural hematoma's resolution, as it is the first reported case in which an intracranial pressure monitor has been utilized. We also review the literature and discuss the nature of rapid spontaneous epidural hematoma resolution.