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Aim: To describe, and to evaluate the clinical and radiological characteristics of pediatric cavernous malformations (CMs) and the surgical approaches and their outcomes in a single center., Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed pediatric patients with CMs that were treated in our center between 2010 and 2020. Radiological, clinical, and demographic features, as well as treatment details were evaluated., Results: Of 23 patients, 12 were male, and 11 were female. Two patients with multiple CMs had a family history. The most common symptoms were headaches (9/23, 39.1%) and seizures (9/23, 39.1%). Twenty patients had single lesions and three patients had multiple lesions. According to Zabramski classification, eight (34.7%) patients had type 1, 11 (47.8%) had type 2 and four (17.3%) had type 3 lesions. Thirteen patients had recurrent preoperative hemorrhages and nine had increased lesion size. Seven patients (30.4%) had coexisting deep venous anomalies in the CM vicinity. Twenty-one patients underwent microsurgical resection (5/23 simple lesionectomy, 16/23 lesionectomy + resection of the surrounding hemosiderin ring). All lesions were completely resected. No surgical mortalities or major complications occurred., Conclusion: Since pediatric CMs are more aggressive than adult CMs, they should not be underestimated. Microsurgical total resection should be the first treatment choice where possible. We concluded that early surgical treatment and resection of perilesional hemosiderin-stained tissue, when feasible, yield the most favorable results at long-term follow-up including seizure outcomes.

Aim: To present an early warning system (EWS) that employs a supervised machine learning algorithm for the rapid detection of extra-axial hematomas (EAHs) in an emergency trauma setting., Material and Methods: A total of 150 sets of cranial computed tomography (CT) scans were used in this study with a total of 11,025 images. Of the CTs, 75 were labeled as EAH, the remaining 75 were normal. A random forest algorithm was utilized for the detection of EAHs. The CTs were randomized into two groups: 100 samples for training of the algorithm (split evenly between EAH and normal cases), and 50 samples for testing. In the training phase, the algorithm scanned every CT slice separately for image features such as entropy, moment, and variance. If the algorithm determined an EAH on two or more images in a CT set, then the workflow produced an alert in the form of an email., Results: Data from 50 patients (25 EAH and 25 controls) were used for testing the EWS. For all CTs with an EAH, an alert was produced, with a 0% false-negative rate. For 16% of the cases, the practitioner received an email from the EWS that the patient might have an EAH despite having a normal CT scan. Positive and negative predictive values were 86% and 100%, respectively., Conclusion: An EWS based on a machine learning algorithm is an efficient and inexpensive way of facilitating the work of emergency practitioners such as emergency physicians, neuroradiologists, and neurosurgeons.

Aim: To compare the clinical results of different transcortical approaches for the removal of third ventricular colloid cysts (CC)., Material and Methods: Records of 41 colloid cyst patients who underwent transcortical conventional microsurgical, microsurgical with the aid of stereotactically guided cylindrical retractor (minitubular), and endoscopic removal between 1999 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical results of these three different transcortical surgical approaches were compared and a literature review of published series was conducted., Results: Ages ranged between 16 and 66 years (mean: 36.8). There were 18 female and 23 male patients. Headache was the main presenting symptom. The mean CC diameter was 15.5 mm. Intraventricular hemorrhage was encountered in 2 patients. Three patients needed postoperative ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery. Postoperative seizures were seen in 3, postoperative neurological deficit in 3 and residual tumor in 2 patients. The conventional approach resulted in significantly higher rates of postoperative seizure compared to the minitubular and endoscopic approaches (p=0.012). The rate of residual cyst was significantly higher in endoscopic approach compared to conventional and minitubular approaches (p=0.024). Conventional approach led to significantly higher rates of neurological deficit compared to the two other approaches (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: With respect to complication rates, the stereotactic and endoscopic approaches are both safe and reliable compared to conventional microsurgical approach that has unacceptably high rates of seizures and neurological deficit. Concerning completeness of removal, both microsurgical approaches are by far superior to neuroendoscopy. The stereotactic microsurgical approach compares favorably in both respects with endoscopic and conventional microsurgical approaches.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of NMDA receptor antagonist memantine and pancaspase inhibitor Q-VD-Oph in combination or alone in experimental spinal cord injury., Material and Methods: 45 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. Spinal cord injury was created with the clip compression technique. The drugs were administered either alone of in combination to the subjects according to their groups. Motor function was assessed with Tarlov's motor grading scale and the inclined plane technique. The subjects were sacrificed at the fifth postoperative day. Histopathological examination was done with the use of hematoxylin eosin and TUNEL staining., Results: The results for TUNEL staining and apoptotic cell counts revealed statistically significant differences in Q-VD-Oph and combined treatment groups. Tarlov motor grading scale and inclined plane test results were also found significantly better in these two groups., Conclusion: Combined use of memantine and Q-VD-OPh provides better histological and clinical results. The combined inhibition of the two major pathways, necrosis and apoptosis, needs to be further assessed with in-vivo or in-vitro studies.

Aim: To investigate the effectiveness of rat adipose tissue-derived (rAT) mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation on the functional restoration and regeneration of spinal cord injury (SCI)., Material and Methods: Six of 48 Wistar albino rats were sacrificed to obtain MSCs, and the remaining rats were divided randomly into six groups. SCI was performed using the clip compression method. The control and transplantation groups were injected with physiological saline and a rAT-MSC suspension at the injury sites, respectively. Each animal was evaluated using the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan (BBB) rating system and sacrificed at 28 days post-injury period (p.i.). The regeneration process was evaluated based on immunostaining against β3-tubulin, BDNF, CNTF, and CNPase., Results: rAT-MSC transplantation into the SCI site substantially improved the tissue regeneration and functional recovery (p < 0.05). However, the rAT-MSC transplantation at 9 days p.i. was not more efficient on functional recovery than the transplantation immediately after injury. The expression of β3-tubulin, BDNF and CNTF at the injury site indicated the potential for functional regeneration., Conclusion: The adaptive nature of rat-MSCs enabled the remodulation and regeneration of the lesion site, decreasing the importance of transplantation time in the treatment of SCI.