Search

Background. After-discharge (AD) activity is a pattern that differs from background corticography, represented by rhythmic stereotypical slow waves and/or repetitive spike discharges with ≥1 Hz frequency, recorded after cessation of electrical stimulation and lasting for more than 2 seconds. Despite the accumulated experience in the field of intraoperative neuromonitoring, there is no unified protocol for high-frequency stimulation of cortical functional areas (FAs) upon the AD event.Objective: to demonstrate a need to change the intraoperative FAs mapping protocol in patients with brain tumor on awakening in cases of AD recording.Material and methods. Two clinical cases of awake surgical functional mapping followed by resection of the brain tumor are presented. Multimodal monitoring included high-frequency stimulation according to the approved intrahospital protocol with maximum stimulation force of auditory-speech zones of 2.5 mA, electrocorticography, and subcortical dynamic mapping.Results. In the first case, AD was registered while FAs mapping in a patient with a history of one epileptic seizure, upon reaching the maximum stimulation force of 2.5 mA, that was replaced by recording focal epileptiform activity with the following evolution to ictal generalized event and development of intraoperative convulsive seizure. In the second patient with a history of recurrent epileptic seizures, AD with spatiotemporal evolution of the pattern development of clinical ictal event was registered with stimulation at 2.5 mA. In both cases, the appearance of AD required to change mapping protocol with a stepwise decrease in stimulus strength to obtain cortical FAs data.Conclusion. Registration of AD is the basis for changing the protocol of high-frequency cortical stimulation in surgical treatment of brain tumor FAs.

The motor stereotype in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) is determined by the magnitude of spasticity and central paresis of muscles, the impaired mechanisms of intermuscular interaction, and the presence of consensual reactions and pathologic synkineses. There are cases of a concomitance of the suprasegmental and segmental structures damages in CP. An attempt has been made to identify and estimate the contribution of the peripheral neuromuscular system lesion in CP patients in its late residual stage. Central nervous system lesion at the central and segmental levels were detected in 12.3% of cases in CP with spastic diplegia with progressive deformities of the lower extremities joints. Needle EMG is the most sensitive technique to detect a lesion at the segmental level: increased duration and higher amplitude motor unit potentials (MUPs) and fewer recruited MUPs were registrated. A turn-amplitude analysis has indicated the shift of cloudy diagram to the left and upwards and the decreased ratio of the number of turns to their mean amplitude. The residual pattern of revealed changes is confirmed by the absence of signs of a current denervation process. The contribution of possible myelodysplasia and transneuronal degeneration of spinal motor neurons at the lumbosacral level to the clinical picture of the CP and orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation tactics are discussed.