Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is one of the most common causes of drug-resistant epilepsy. Dysmorphic neurons are the major histopathological feature of type II FCD, but their role in seizure genesis in FCD is unclear. Here we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recording and morphological reconstruction of cortical principal neurons in postsurgical brain tissue from drug-resistant epilepsy patients. Quantitative analyses revealed distinct morphological and electrophysiological characteristics of the upper layer dysmorphic neurons in type II FCD, including an enlarged soma, aberrant dendritic arbors, increased current injection for rheobase action potential firing, and reduced action potential firing frequency. Intriguingly, the upper layer dysmorphic neurons received decreased glutamatergic and increased GABAergic synaptic inputs that were coupled with upregulation of the Na⁺-K⁺-Cl^- cotransporter. In addition, we found a depolarizing shift of the GABA reversal potential in the CamKII-cre::PTEN^flox/flox mouse model of drug-resistant epilepsy, suggesting that enhanced GABAergic inputs might depolarize dysmorphic neurons. Thus, imbalance of synaptic excitation and inhibition of dysmorphic neurons may contribute to seizure genesis in type II FCD.
Animals ; Drug Resistant Epilepsy/surgery* ; Epilepsy/pathology* ; Malformations of Cortical Development/pathology* ; Malformations of Cortical Development, Group I ; Mice ; Neurons/pathology* ; Seizures/pathology*

Epiduroscopy is defined as a percutaneous, minimally invasive endoscopic investigation of the epidural space. Periduroscopy is currently used mainly as a diagnostic tool to directly visualize epidural adhesions in patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), and as a therapeutic action in patients with low back pain by accurately administering drugs, releasing inflammation, washing the epidural space, and mechanically releasing the scars displayed. Considering epiduroscopy a minimally invasive technique should not lead to underestimating its potential complications. The purpose of this review is to summarize and explain the mechanisms of the side effects strictly related to the technique itself, leaving aside complications considered typical for any kind of extradural procedure (e.g. adverse reactions due to the administration of drugs or bleeding) and not fitting the usual concept of epiduroscopy for which the data on its real usefulness are still lacking. The most frequent complications and side effects of epiduroscopy can be summarized as non-persistent post-procedural low back and/or leg discomfort/pain, transient neurological symptoms (headache, hearing impairment, paresthesia), dural puncture with or without post dural puncture headache (PDPH), post-procedural visual impairment with retinal hemorrhage, encephalopathy resulting in rhabdomyolysis due to a dural tear, intradural cyst, as well as neurogenic bladder and seizures. We also report for first time, to our knowledge, a case of symptomatic pneumocephalus after epiduroscopy, and try to explain the reason for this event and the precautions to avoid this complication.
Brain Diseases ; Cicatrix ; Epidural Space ; Failed Back Surgery Syndrome ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Leg ; Low Back Pain ; Paresthesia ; Pharmaceutical Preparations ; Pneumocephalus ; Post-Dural Puncture Headache ; Punctures ; Retinal Hemorrhage ; Rhabdomyolysis ; Seizures ; Tears ; Tissue Adhesions ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic ; Vision Disorders

Umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been introduced as a possible therapy in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This case history is reported of a 59-yr-old man who was treated with MSCs in the course of ARDS and subsequent pulmonary fibrosis. He received a long period of mechanical ventilation and weaning proved difficult. On hospital day 114, he underwent the intratracheal administration of UCB-derived MSCs at a dose of 1 x 10(6)/kg. After cell infusion, an immediate improvement was shown in his mental status, his lung compliance (from 22.7 mL/cmH2O to 27.9 mL/cmH2O), PaO2/FiO2 ratio (from 191 mmHg to 334 mmHg) and his chest radiography over the course of three days. Even though he finally died of repeated pulmonary infection, our current findings suggest the possibility of using MSCs therapy in an ARDS patient. It is the first clinical case of UCB-derived MSCs therapy ever reported.
Bacterial Infections/diagnosis ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Fetal Blood/*cytology ; Humans ; Male ; *Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells/*cytology ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult/complications/radiography/*surgery ; Seizures/etiology ; Shock, Septic/diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome

In this report, we describe a case of brain abscess due to odontogenic infection. A 53-year-old female who had been suffering from headache and trismus for two weeks visited the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Sun Dental Hospital (Daejeon, Korea). Even after several routine tests, we still could not make a diagnosis. However, after the combined multidisciplinary efforts of oral surgeons and neurosurgeons, the patient was treated for odontogenic infection and made an uneventful recovery. Therefore, patients with infections in the head and neck region showing symptoms such as headache, changes in mental state, nausea, vomiting, seizures, hemiplegia, speech disturbance, and visual disturbance, a brain abscess should be included in the list of differential diagnoses.
Brain Abscess* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Head ; Headache ; Hemiplegia ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; Neck ; Seizures ; Solar System ; Surgery, Oral ; Trismus ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: To report clinical manifestations including neurocutaneous and ocular findings and to evaluate outcomes of trabeculectomy in patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome. METHODS: The medical records of 10 eyes of 8 glaucoma patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome who were followed up for at least 1 year after trabeculectomy were reviewed retrospectively. We analyzed neurocutaneous and ocular findings, cumulative surgical success rates, and complications in patients with Sturge-Weber syndrome. RESULTS: The mean patient age at the time of surgery was 12.6 +/- 13.0 years and mean follow-up period was 71.6 +/- 81.8 months. All patients showed various clinical findings including facial hemangioma (8 patients), seizure (6 patients), intracranial lesion (6 patients), developmental delay (4 patients), conjunctival/episcleral hemangioma (4 eyes), and choroidal hemangioma (4 eyes). Postoperative success was achieved in 8 out of 10 eyes (80.0%). Postoperatively, serous retinal detachment occurred in 2 out of 4 eyes with preoperative diffuse choroidal hemangioma. CONCLUSIONS: Management of glaucoma associated with Sturge-Weber syndrome requires multidisciplinary treatment because of systemic involvement. Trabeculectomy appears to be an effective and relatively safe surgical option for glaucoma associated with Sturge-Weber syndrome. However, serious complications such as serous retinal detachment should be considered when planning trabeculectomy for patients with diffuse choroidal hemangioma.
Choroid ; Follow-Up Studies ; General Surgery ; Glaucoma* ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Retinal Detachment ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Sturge-Weber Syndrome* ; Trabeculectomy

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the clinical relevance of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) in pre- and post-operative evaluations of childhood epilepsy surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-two patients who received epilepsy surgery between March 2004 and July 2008 were retrospectively analyzed (M : F=40 : 32, ages of 3 months to 24 years, mean age=8.9 years). DTT was performed using a 3.0 T scanner and single-shot spin-echo echo-planar imaging with 32-different diffusion gradient directions. We reviewed the data focusing on the type of surgery, final pathological diagnosis, and how the DTT data were clinically used. RESULTS: The most common form of childhood epilepsy surgery was complete resection of an epileptogenic lesion (n=52, 72.2%). The reported etiologies included cortical dysplasia (n=32, 44.4%), hippocampal sclerosis (n=9, 12.5%), brain tumors (n=7, 9.7%), and non-pathologic lesions (n=4, 5.6%) in the final diagnoses. Twenty-one dysplastic cortexes and four brain tumors involved an approximal relationship with the corticospinal tract (n=18), optic radiation (n=2), and arcuate fasciculus (n=5). Additionally, although DTT demonstrated white matter tracts clearly, DTT in the hippocampal sclerosis did not provide any additional information. In cases of callosotomy (n=18, 25%), post-operative DTT was utilized for the evaluation of complete resection in all patients. DTT information was not used in functional hemispherectomy (n=2, 2.8%). CONCLUSION: Preoperatively, DTT was a useful technique in cases of cortical dysplasia and brain tumors, and in cases with callosotomy, postoperatively. DTT should be included among the routine procedures performed in management of epilepsy.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Brain Neoplasms/pathology/surgery ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging/*methods ; Epilepsy/*pathology/*surgery ; Female ; Hippocampus/pathology ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Sclerosis/pathology/surgery ; Seizures/surgery ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Intracerebral schwannomas are rare and there have been none reported in Korea. We present the case of a 25-year-old man with newly developed right-side weakness and recent seizure aggravation. His seizures started approximately 9 years prior to admission. At that time, a 1 cm diameter intra-axial enhancing mass at the left precentral gyrus was found on magnetic resonance image (MRI). After 9 years of observation and treatment with antiepileptic medication, an MRI taken due to symptom aggravation revealed peri-tumoral cyst formation with tumor enlargement. The tumor was surgically removed. Subsequently, right-side weakness diminished and there was good seizure control. Pathologic diagnosis was schwannoma. Schwannoma is a very rare tumor and there are no pathognomonic findings on radiologic images; thus, it is challenging to make a correct diagnosis. However, considering the natural course and excellent prognosis after surgical treatment of this kind of intra-axial mass with benign features, early surgery for diagnosis and proper treatment is highly recommended.
Adult ; Diagnosis ; General Surgery ; Humans ; Korea ; Magnetics ; Magnets ; Neurilemmoma* ; Prognosis ; Seizures

This study was performed to assess the usefulness of magnetoencephalography (MEG) as a presurgical evaluation modality in Korean pediatric patients with lesional localization-related epilepsy. The medical records and MEG findings of 13 pediatric patients (6 boys and 7 girls) with localization-related epilepsy, who underwent epilepsy surgery at Seoul National University Children's Hospital, were retrospectively reviewed. The hemispheric concordance rate was 100% (13/13 patients). The lobar or regional concordance rate was 77% (10/13 patients). In most cases, the MEG spike sources were clustered in the proximity of the lesion, either at one side of the margin (nine patients) or around the lesion (one patient); clustered spike sources were distant from the lesion in one patient. Among the patients with clustered spike sources near the lesion, further extensions (three patients) and distal scatters (three patients) were also observed. MEG spike sources were well lateralized and localized even in two patients without focal epileptiform discharges in the interictal scalp electroencephalography. Ten patients (77%) achieved Engel class I postsurgical seizure outcome. It is suggested that MEG is a safe and useful presurgical evaluation modality in pediatric patients with lesion localization-related epilepsy.
Adolescent ; Brain/radionuclide imaging ; Brain Diseases/pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Epilepsies, Partial/pathology/*surgery ; Female ; Ganglioglioma/pathology ; Humans ; Infant ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; *Magnetoencephalography ; Male ; Malformations of Cortical Development/pathology ; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial/pathology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures/diagnosis

Despite reductions in surgical mortality, neurologic sequelae remain a devastating complication after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Neurologic complications may be induced by a massive air embolism during cardiopulmonary bypass, even with extensive monitoring. This report describes a patient who had a fatal cerebral infarct during aortic valve and ascending aorta replacement surgery. We monitored jugular venous O2 saturation (SjvO2) and cerebral oximetry using near-infrared spectroscopy in the perioperative period. The operation and anesthesia were uneventful until the deep hypothermic total arrest for the replacement of the ascending aorta. However, restarting the cardiopulmonary bypass after deep hypothermic total arrest produced a brief (less than 10 seconds) but large amount of air in the root cannula. At this time, although cerebral oximetry did not show any changes, the SjvO2 decreased to 21% for about 3 minutes and then normalized. At 8 hours after surgery, the patient showed seizures and severe edema in both cerebral hemispheres on the MRI. The patient died 21 days after surgery.
Anesthesia ; Aorta ; Aortic Valve ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Catheters ; Cerebrum ; Edema ; Embolism, Air ; Humans ; Oximetry ; Perioperative Period ; Seizures ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared ; Thoracic Surgery

BACKGROUNDIn the years around 1990, in Beijing Tiantan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University many children with infantile hemiplegia and intractable epilepsy were treated with further modified anatomical hemispherectomy. We report the follow up of the first six cases. To make good use of these precious clinical data and make clear their neuropsychological state, we performed neuropsychological and neurophysiological measurements in these patients, who were at a median of 17.8 years after hemispherectomy.

METHODSOddball task was given to the patients and to a normal control group to collect the peak latency (PL) and peak amplitude (PA) of event-related potentials (ERPs)-P300. The P300 data of the two groups were analyzed and the P300 patterns of the six patients are presented. The baseline characteristics and long-term follow-up of the six hemispherectomized patients, especially the long-term seizure control and cognitive function after surgery, are described.

RESULTSFive patients had no seizures and one was almost seizure-free during the years after surgery. Clear P300 was obtained from every electrode in the patients. Differences of P300 between patients and normal control group had no statistical significance. And the maximum PA was at the site of electrode Pz or Cz which was consistent with that of the control group and with previous findings.

CONCLUSIONSFurther modified anatomical hemispherectomy has preferable long-term antiepileptic effects. The P300 results of the patients mean that the basic cognitive function of the patients has no difference from the control group. This reflects the plasticity of the hemisphere to some extent and increases the affirmation of the long-term curative effects of further modified anatomical hemispherectomy from both neuropsychological and neurophysiological aspects.

Adult ; Disease-Free Survival ; Event-Related Potentials, P300 ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemispherectomy ; Humans ; Male ; Seizures ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome