48 Cranial neurosurgery

Aetiology The common primary brain tumours mentioned above mostly occur sporadically . There is n...

BRAIN TUMOURS The term ‘brain tumour’ applies to more than 100 distinct pathologies detailed in t...

Brain abscess and empyema Abscesses arise when the brain is exposed directly , for example as a r...

Brain tumours in children Brain tumours are the most common solid tumours in children but are non...

Brainstem death This is defined as the irreversible loss of cerebral and brainstem function. Br...

Classification WHO classifies primary brain tumours on the basis of cell of origin and histologica...

Clinical features of raised intracranial pressure Symptoms of raised ICP include a ‘high-pressur...

Common brain tumours Cerebral metastases Cerebral metastases ( Figure 48.21 ) are the most common...

Craniosynostosis Normal fusion of the coronal, lambdoidal, squamosal and sagittal sutures occurs...

Cysts These benign fluid-filled intracranial lesions typically present incidentally or with mass e ...

Epilepsy Up to 10% of the population will su ff er a seizure at some point in their lives, and ep...

FUNCTIONAL NEUROSURGERY Functional neurosurgery aims to relieve epilepsy , movement disorders or ...

HYDROCEPHALUS The total volume of CSF is normally about 150 /uni00A0 mL. Produc tion from the wa...

INTRACRANIAL INFECTION Meningitis Meningitis describes inflammation of the meninges of the brain...

Intracerebral haemorrhage Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) typically presents with sudden focal de...

Introduction No content extracted automatically.

Investigation of raised intracranial pressure CT is a first-line investigation to identify causes ...

Learning objectives To understand the physiology of raised intracranial • pressure, cerebrospinal...

Medical management Patients should be placed on bed rest with hourly neuro - observations. They r...

Movement disorders Prior to the development of levodopa drug therapy , surgical ablation of the...

Neural tube defects Failure of closure of the neural tube is associated with folate deficiency ,...

Neurosurgery in occlusive vascular disease In a subgroup of patients with completed ischaemic ...

Obstructive and communicating hydrocephalus Hydrocephalus ( Figure 48.5 ) almost always reflects o...

PRACTICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare ...

PRACTICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare ...

Pain syndromes Neurosurgical approaches to the relief of pain may address the underlying aetiol...

Pituitary tumours Most tumours in the sellar region are benign pituitary adeno - mas, but patholo...

Posterior fossa malformations Chiari malformations involve cerebellar herniation through the fora...

Presentation Most tumours present with one or more features belonging - to three cardinal categor...

RAISED INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE The importance of intracranial pressure (ICP) management in the con...

Risks of craniotomy The risks associated with craniotomy are important to appre - ciate in discus...

Spina bifida occulta A congenital absence of a spinous process, without exposure of meninges or n...

Subdural empyema Subdural empyema refers to an infected fluid collection in the subdural space. Th...

Surgical/interventional management Aneurysms may be removed from the circulation surgically by cr...

Treatment of hydrocephalus Acute obstructive hydrocephalus is an emergency because of the risk of...

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) infection of the central nervous system (CNS) represents haematoge...

VASCULAR NEUROSURGERY Subarachnoid haemorrhage ‘Spontaneous’ SAH is usually the result of bleedi...

Vestibular schwannoma These are nerve sheath tumours arising in the cerebellopontine - angle ( Fi...