Neurosurgery News and Research

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Study shows beneficial effect of hNSC transplantation for TBI

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, often causing lifelong disability for those who survive. Treatment is limited to supportive care, but stem cell therapy has received recent attention as a way to promote recovery for injuries to the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, researchers transplanted human neural stem cells (hNSCs) into the brains of mice modeled with TBI to investigate whether the hosts' immune systems and the stem cells acting in concert would enhance repair.

20 Apr 2016

Penn researchers report results of CAR therapy trial in brain cancer patients

Immune cells engineered to seek out and attack a type of deadly brain cancer known as glioblastoma (GBM) were found to have an acceptable safety profile and successfully migrate to and infiltrate tumors, researchers from Penn Medicine and Harvard University reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.

19 Apr 2016

Study indicates mRS is poorly suited to evaluate, report quality of neuro-surgery

Surgery has become a volatile field during the past few years, with study after study challenging prevailing treatment practices. For example, surgical treatment of acute appendicitis and arthroscopic surgery on degenerative knees have been called into question by recent research results reached by Finnish researchers.

18 Apr 2016

Low-carbohydrate diet helps reduce growth of glioblastoma tumor cells in mouse models

University of Florida Health researchers have slowed a notoriously aggressive type of brain tumor in mouse models by using a low-carbohydrate diet.

16 Apr 2016

Scientists detect FFR signals from previously unknown part of the brain

Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University have made an important discovery about the human auditory system and how to study it, findings that could lead to better testing and diagnosis of hearing-related disorders.

7 Apr 2016

Unhealthy BMIs, smoking, drinking alcohol and solid fuel use increase asthma risk in women

Underweight and obese women who also drank alcohol and smoked tobacco had a two-fold higher risk of being diagnosed with asthma than women with a healthy body mass index who did not drink or smoke, a St. Michael's Hospital study found.

7 Apr 2016

NICE issues positive guidance on use of electroCore’s gammaCore treatment for migraine and cluster headache

The UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence has published guidance that electroCore’s non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation treatment (gammaCore) for the prevention and acute treatment of migraine and cluster headache is safe and can now be used in the NHS.

4 Apr 2016

Simple blood test can help detect evidence of concussions up to 7 days after injury

Researchers at Orlando Health detected evidence of concussions in patients up to 7 days after their injury using a simple blood test, according to a new study published in JAMA Neurology. The discovery could greatly expand the window for diagnosing concussions, especially in patients who experience a delayed onset of symptoms.

29 Mar 2016

Children with cardiomyopathy may benefit from family-linked treatment

A newly published national study by the Children's Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers shows that "parental impact and family functioning" become increasingly abnormal when children with cardiomyopathy-related chronic heart disease are more severely ill than children less affected by the disease.

24 Mar 2016

St. Luke’s surgeon first in world to implant Medtronic’s new, MRI-compatible neurostimulator system

Steven Falowski, MD, Chief of Functional Neurosurgery at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania today was the first surgeon in the world to implant Medtronic’s brand new, full-body, MRI-compatible paddle electrode leads for the Restore neurostimulator system.

21 Mar 2016

Innovative treatment may help prevent brain swelling, death in stroke patients

New research has provided more evidence that an innovative treatment strategy may help prevent brain swelling and death in stroke patients. J. Marc Simard, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Yale University and Massachusetts General Hospital, found that Cirara, an investigational drug, powerfully reduced brain swelling and death in patients who had suffered a type of large stroke called malignant infarction, which normally carries a high mortality rate.

19 Mar 2016

Aesculap plans to develop neurostimulators for lowering high blood pressure

The Tuttlingen medical technology company Aesculap AG has founded the Freiburg startup neuroloop GmbH in cooperation with the University of Freiburg and the Freiburg University Medical Center. Building on research work from a team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Stieglitz at the university's Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) and a research group at the university medical center, the company plans to develop neurostimulators that will be capable among other things of lowering high blood pressure.

18 Mar 2016

Anticancer drug restores hearing in neurofibromatosis patients

In a small clinical study with an anticancer drug that halts blood vessel growth, a handful of people with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) and hearing loss had restoration of hearing.

15 Mar 2016

Drinking more coffee may reduce risk of multiple sclerosis

Drinking a lot of coffee every day--more than 900 ml (30 fluid ounces) or around six cups--is linked to a reduced risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), finds research published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

7 Mar 2016

New pain management technique can reduce loss of muscle strength in ACL knee surgery patients

Anesthesiologists can significantly reduce loss of muscle strength in ACL knee surgery patients using a new pain management technique, a new study has found.

4 Mar 2016

UT Southwestern teams up with seven universities to develop new technologies to improve memory function

UT Southwestern Medical Center has joined a consortium of seven leading universities to develop new technologies to improve memory in people with traumatic brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease.

3 Mar 2016

U-M researchers develop novel mouse model of children's brain cancer

Children with brain cancer may soon get some help from mice with the same disease, thanks to new research from University of Michigan Medical School scientists and their colleagues.

3 Mar 2016

Number of male smokers in India rise by 36%

The number of men smoking tobacco in India rose by more than one-third to 108 million between 1998 and 2015, according to a new study published today in the journal BMJ Global Health.

26 Feb 2016

Neurosurgeons use laser probe to deliver chemotherapy drugs to patients with glioblastoma

Using a laser probe, neurosurgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have opened the brain's protective cover, enabling them to deliver chemotherapy drugs to patients with a form of deadly brain cancer.