Role of Decompressive Craniectomy in the Management of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a relatively uncommon cause of stroke more often affecting women and younger individuals. Blockage of the venous outflow rapidly causes edema and space-occupying venous infarctions and it seems intuitive that decompressive craniectomy (DC) can effectively reduce intracranial pressure just like it works for malignant middle cerebral artery infarcts and traumatic brain injury. But because of the relative rarity of this type of stroke, strong evidence from randomized controlled trials that DC is a life-saving procedure is not available unlike in the latter two conditions. There is a possibility that other forms of interventions like endovascular recanalization, thrombectomy, thrombolysis, and anticoagulation, which cannot be used in established middle cerebral artery infarcts and TBI, can reverse the ongoing pathology of increasing edema in CVST. Such interventions, although presently unproven, could theoretically obviate the need for DC when used in early stages. However, in the absence of such evidence, we recommend that DC be considered early as a life-saving measure whenever there are large hemorrhagic infarcts, expanding edema, radiological, and clinical features of impending herniation. This review gives an overview of the etiology and risk factors of CVST in different patient populations and examines the effectiveness of DC and other forms of interventions.

Formulation of a Three-Tier Cisternal Grade as a Predictor of In-Hospital Outcome from a Prospective Study of Patients with Traumatic Intracranial Hematoma

OBJECTIVE

Outcome prediction is of paramount importance in traumatic brain injury. Our objective of conducting this prospective study was to identify the predictors needed to formulate a prognostic score.

METHODS

Clinical and radiologic characteristics of 100 patients with traumatic intracranial hematoma were analyzed. Key measurements were taken in the midbrain and pontine regions and the status of each of the 9 basal cisterns was noted, by giving a score of 1 if they were visible and 0 if not. All the predictors were analyzed for outcome.

RESULTS

Total cisternal score was found to be an independent predictor of outcome. A grade was formulated by dividing the score into 3 levels.

CONCLUSIONS

The model based on cisternal status described in the study is technically simple and conveys the information regarding the outcome to the treating neurosurgeon. Because the score obtained seems to have low interobserver variation, we believe that it can be a useful tool not only in recording data in case files and interphysician communication but also in research into traumatic brain injury.

Primary pyogenic spinal epidural abscess: How late is too late and how bad is too bad? - A study on surgical outcome after delayed presentation

Spinal epidural abscess is a rare clinical entity with considerable morbidity. Even with prompt diagnosis and treatment, many patients are left with persistent residual neurological deficits. The present study details the outcome in 23 patients of primary pyogenic spinal epidural abscess, addressing the outcome following late presentation at a neurological facility. At presentation only 2 patients had relatively preserved neurological status. Eleven patients were paraplegic. All the patients underwent laminectomy and evacuation of abscess. A good functional outcome was observed in almost half of the patients, and there was a significant reduction in the number of the patients with severe disability. Factors influencing the outcome are described in this study.