Although there are many reports on the accuracy and usefulness of a navigation system for pedicle screw placement, there are few reports on the application for spinal osteotomy.

Methods. We report on 4 complex cases including 3 solitary

malignant spinal tumors and 1 spinal kyphotic deformity of ankylosing spondylitis, which were treated surgically using a computer-assisted spinal osteotomy. The surgical Selleckchem Raf inhibitor technique and postoperative clinical and radiologic results are presented.

Results. 3D spinal osteotomy under the guidance of a computer-assisted navigation system was performed successfully in 4 patients. All malignant tumors were resected en bloc, and the spinal deformity was corrected precisely according to the preoperative plan. Pathologic analysis confirmed the en bloc resection without tumor exposure in the 3 patients with a spinal tumor.

Conclusion. The use of a computer-assisted navigation system will help ensure the safety and efficacy of a complex 3D spinal osteotomy.”
“At the end of 2006 a country-based surveillance program on natalizumab therapy in multiple sclerosis was settled in Italy by a collaborative effort

of the Italian Drug Agency (AIFA) and a group of experts and neurologists appointed by the National Society of Neurology (SIN). After 2 years, 1,818 patients are registered in the database. The majority of cases (88.6%) Nocodazole failed the therapy with beta interferon or glatiramer acetate and had relapses or accumulated disability during immunomodulating treatment, while 11.4%

of patients enrolled in the surveillance study were not previously treated with immunomodulating therapies and had a rapidly evolving clinical course. Almost 10% of the patients treated with natalizumab interrupted, for various different reasons, the therapy. Treatment was well tolerated and side effects were similar to those reported in the registrative studies. The majority of treated cases are stable or ameliorated.”
“The epidemiology and clinical spectrum of schizencephaly in south-eastern Hungary have been surveyed in a retrospective population-based see more study. A total of 10 patients (6 boys and 4 girls) were found with schizencephaly among 185 486 live births in a period of 14 years (July 1, 1992 to June 30, 2006), which means a birth prevalence of 0.54 per 10 000 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.20-0.87). The schizencephaly was unilateral in 7 cases (with closed lips in 5 and open lips in 2 patients) and bilateral in 3 children (with closed lips in 2 and open lips in 1). The septum pellucidum was absent in 5 cases; however, optic nerve hypoplasia was not found in these patients. Delayed development and intellectual disability were observed in all patients, except 2 with unilateral closed lip schizencephaly. Epilepsy was diagnosed in 3 patients (2 with unilateral and 1 with bilateral schizencephaly).