Date: September 19-21, 2018
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Late registration deadline: September 5, 2018
This Annual Meeting marks 20 years of EUROSPINE, the largest Spine Society of Europe. Over the course of three days, thousands of participants will exchange ideas regarding the main spinal topics, focusing on the latest advances in research and clinical findings.
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The use of recombinant nAG protein in spinal cord crush injury in a rat model
Written by Edoardo Agosti, MSThe possibility of Central Nervous System regeneration after acute trauma is arguably one of the most interesting fields of neurosurgical research. In this article, authors evaluate the therapeutic role of nAG protein in the healing of an acute spinal injury in a rat model. Motor recovery scores, MRI signals and histopathology evaluations demonstrate a significant improvement in experimental subjects. Since nAG protein reduces gliosis, reduces vacuole and granulation tissue formation and enhances neuro-restoration, it is a promising candidate for assisting the recovery of acute spinal trauma.
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Decompressive craniectomy following traumatic brain injury: developing the evidence base.
Written by Giorgio Saraceno, MSTraumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major cause of death and disability in those <40 years old worldwide. There is evidence from large cohort studies that intracranial hypertension is associated with higher mortality. Decompressive craniectomy (DC) leads to a reduction of the ICP, increasing the volume which the intracranial contents can occupy. However, uncertainties still remain regarding the optimal timing, long- and short-term clinical effects of DC and indications of the procedure. Current evidence (thanks to different trials) suggests that for patients with diffuse TBI, early bifrontal DC is not superior to medical therapy. Primary DC for patients with ASDH is evaluated in the RESCUE-ASDH trial, and secondary DC (applied to refractory ICP) is the subject of the RESCUEicp study. The evidence base suggest that, considering also the potential complications with DC, patients with TBI must be carefully selected to undergo DC to optimise outcomes.
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The role of pharmacotherapy in the management of chronic subdural haematoma
Written by Ismail ZaedIn this study, Kolias et al. Observe the work done by Soleman and colleagues about the pharmacotherapy in cSDH management, highlighting the limited evidence base for its application. At last, the authors hope that the randomised trials that are currently underway will change this situation by providing robust evidence.
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Date: Saturday 28th June 2018, 14:00 GMT
Speaker: Professor Talat Kiris
Topic: Fluorescence Guided Microneurosugery: Neurooncology & Neurovascular
WFNS Young Neurosurgeons committee will be facilitating a webinar hosted by Professor Talat Kiris. Professor Kiris is a neurosurgeon in Istanbul and will be talking about the role of fluorescence guidance in neurosurgery.
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Meeting ID: 235-774-987
AUTHORS: Almutairi O, Albakr A, Al-Habib A, Ajlan A.
SUMMARY: Meningioma is a tumor that forms from the meninges, the membranous layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord. There are unquestionably articles with important historical data that are not valued by their citation counts alone. Nevertheless, count system remains an accepted method to assess article’s impact. In this study, they performed an analysis of the 100 most impactful articles on meningiomas and analyzed their characteristics. Authors performed a title-specific search of the Scopus database to identify highly cited articles on meningioma in November 2016.
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Seventh Annual World Course In Advanced Brain Tumour Surgery
Written by Fabio Paio
Date: July 12 – 15, 2018
Location: London, UK
The Annual World Course In Advanced Brain Tumour Surgery is a yearly event led by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), which will be held for the seventh time this year. Across four days delegates from around the world will have the chance to witness some of the masters of neurosurgery at work. The event begins on 12th June with 12 hours of live streaming surgery. Then it will be possible to attend hands-on workshops, seminars and debates.
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Date: August 11 – 16, 2018
Location: Toronto, Canada
The NeuroTrauma2018 is a six days symposium which is held by three leading societies in the neurotrauma field: the International Neurotrauma Society (INTS) which is composed by scientists and the purpose of which is to spread the neurotrauma research all over the world; the National Neurotrauma Society (NNS) which aim is to promote and to ensure the excellence in the filed by creating opportunities, establishing standards in clinical research, and supporting research at every levels; the AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care which provides a forum for education and research on trauma and critical care of the nervous system and coordinates activities and programs relating to trauma.
The congress is going to start on August 10, 2018 with a “Pre-Symposium Course” which will take stock of the situation about the management of brain and spine trauma and will cover the theoretical basis and principles for managing traumatic brain and spine injuries and making proper decisions in the complicated cases.
The regular registration deadline is June 30, 2018.
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Date: Monday 28th May 2018, 14:00 GMT
Speaker: Professor Franco Servadei
Topic: Global Neurosurgery
This will be the first webinar in a series held by the WFNS Young Neurosurgeons committee. The WFNS president, Professor Franco Servadei, will be speaking on the topic of global neurosurgery. In recent years, global surgery had gained attention as an area for improvement, with an estimated 5 billion people worldwide not having access to safe surgical care. Professor Servadei will be speaking about how neurosurgery may be coordinated on a global scale in order to meet this challenge and others.
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Meeting ID: 957-780-803
What’s new in the surgical management of traumatic brain injury?
Written by Giorgio Saraceno, MS
Trauma is the leading cause of death and disability in those <45 years old. In more recent years, advances in different subspecialities led to the provision of better care and improved outcomes. Different techniques are described in this article: monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP), evacuation of intracranial haematomas and external ventricular drainage to name a few. Finallly, trauma neurosurgery is emerging as a distinct subspecialty due to all the recent research advances explained in the article and an interdisciplinary working group between trauma neurosurgeons and clinicians from other disciplines is crucial to ensure high-quality care.
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Prospective, multicentre study of external ventricular drainage-related infections in the UK and Ireland
Written by Ismail Zaed
An external ventricular drain (EVD) is a neurosurgical device used to treat hydrocephalus and relieve elevated intracranial pressure, most commonly when the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inside the brain is obstructed. It is among the most common procedures performed by neurosurgeons, however it does carry a number of risks. A prospective multicentre cohort study of EVD insertions was conducted by British Neurosurgical Trainee Research Collaborative to assess the incidence of infections infections. A total of 495 EVD catheters were inserted into 452 patients. In the assessed population, the incidence of EVD-associated infections was 9.3%.
If you are a neurosurgery trainee or have been a consultant/attending for 10 years or less, the WFNS Young Neurosurgeons committee would like to hear from you. In order to best serve the needs of young neurosurgeons worldwide, we must first get to know them! This short survey is the first of many opportunities for the young neurosurgery community to voice their thoughts.
Participate in the Survey now
Trial of Decompressive Craniectomy for Traumatic Intracranial Hypertension
Written by Fabio PaioDr. Angelos Kolias is Clinical Lecturer in Neurosurgery at the Cambridge Neuroscience Community. He is also a member of the WFNS Young Neurosurgeons Committee. His main interest is about neurotrauma, in particular with the mechanisms of action of interventions for traumatic brain injury (TBI).
In this video Dr Kolias presents the aim, the design and setting and the outcomes of the RESCUEicp trial [Randomised Evaluation of Surgery with Craniectomy for Uncontrolled Elevation of Intra-Cranial Pressure], of which he was the research fellow.
The clinical question of this trial was to evaluated if decompressive craniectomy could result in more favourable mortality and neurological outcomes at 6 months, compared with barbiturate coma management. It resulted in a Class I evidence for using last-tier decompressive craniectomy (DC) as a life-saving intervention for refractory raised ICP following TBI. At 6 months DC was associated with lower mortality but higher rate of vegetative state and lower and upper severe disability; the moderate disability and the good recovery rates were similar in comparison with the barbiturate coma management group.
In the second part of the video Dr Kolias presents the RESCUE-ASDH trial [Randomised Evaluation of Surgery with Craniectomy for patients Undergoing Evacuation of Acute SubDural Haematoma] of which the recruitment is still on-going. In this case the aim is to compare the neurological outcomes and the effectiveness of adult head-injury patients undergoing evacuation of acute subdural haematoma after a decompressive craniectomy versus craniotomy.
The British Neurosurgical Trainee Research Collaborative: Five years on
Written by Ismail ZaedAfter the inspiration coming from the success of the West Midlands Research Collaborative (WMRC), a regional general surgical research collaborative established in 2008, the British Neurosurgical Trainee Research Collaborative (BNTRC) was founded in 2012. This initiative has also proven to be a scientific success, and has identified practices associated with improved outcome. The BNTRC has also provided an important platform for allowing high-quality research to be coordinated on a national level, and has given trainees the opportunity to be involved in the development and execution of research protocols - vital skills for the future generation of academic neurosurgeons.
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