4th and 5th Cervical Laminae-Acute Hemiparesis?

This interesting article published in the "Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery" describes spinal cord injuries at the C4-C5 level caused by a serious head-on vehicle collision in a 18 year old teenager. The accident resulted in invagination of C4-C5 laminae into the spinal canal and also fractures leading to hemiparesis?. Surgical intervention of laminectomy, fusion and stabilization with instrumentation resulted in recovery from right sided weakness and recovery of full neurological functions.

Traumatic invagination of the fourth and fifth cervical laminae with acute hemiparesis
U. R. Hähnle, L. Nainkin
From the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

The patient was initially treated by skeletal traction (3 kg) applied using
Crutchfield tongs. As the neurological deficit did not recover
during the following week operation was undertaken.
Through a posterior approach, exposing the laminae and
lateral masses from C3 to C6, the invagination of the right
laminae of the C4 and the C5 vertebrae was confirmed. All
other posterior elements such as the facet joints, ligamentum
flavum, interspinous ligaments and spinous processes
were intact. The fracture at C2 was not exposed.
Reduction of the invaginated laminae was achieved by
gentle traction on the spinous processes. Mild flexion of the
neck helped to maintain the reduction. As the neck was
extended there was a tendency for the laminae to reinvaginate.
Transverse wiring of the two involved spinous processes
was undertaken with tension towards the left-sided
lateral masses to maintain the position of the reduced
laminae.
Adequate decompression was confirmed on a postoperative
CT scan (Figs 3a and 3b).

How to Calculate Frequency, Duration & Amplitude in EEG?

Bill Byrum writes about how to analyse and evaluate EEG inorder to calculate the frequency, duration etc., in the following article that appeared in the latest ASET newsletter.

Calculating Frequency, Duration, Amplitude, and Voltage Using a Legend
By Bill Byrum, MBA, R. EEG/EP T., CNIM

In this article I want to review with you
how simple it is to use a Legend. You will
need a measurement ruler graduated into
one mm segments. It would also be handy
to have a calculator that can be set to divide
to 3 decimal places. If you perform division
by hand, please be sure to carry the results
to 3 decimal places when calculating
waveform duration.
I strongly recommend whenever you
are doing calculation utilizing a Legend
that you use a referential montage and the
reference is not contaminated with EEG
activity. This is because in a bipolar
montage the waveforms are the result of
two inputs active with EEG activity. The
same can be said of a referential montage if
the reference is contaminated. For complete article, click the linked title?.

Degenerative Disc Disease- in a Illustrative way?

Image from: Findhealcarethinfo.com

This picture illustrates the various conditions of the spine.

*****Another beautiful illustration about disc disease is presented in an interactive video at the Spine-Health.com. What is degenerative disc disease, how to make it simple to understand using illustration: here it is!

NEUROMONITORING COMPANIES IN AMERICA: How Many? & Who are they?

• Neuromonitoring1 ......is the only place on the internet or offline on any books where you will find list of companies that provide Neuromonitoring in America, it is not clear at this moment how many countries health care system applies this approach (there is no data on it, but I am sure there are only handful of nations like USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Singapore so far known to employ or have companies doing this service, among them the most widely established neuromonitoring practices occur in US.
  
• 
  
• This list is by far the comprehensive, though it does not reflect one hundred percent of companies in US but certainly most of them with a webaddress and well known names are listed here.
  

A list of all these neuromonitoring companies are documented at the bottom of this blog under separate topic: Neuromonitoring Companies!!.

You will be able to get more details of those companies such as name brand, directors, office staff, company goals, operating areas and schedules etc., along with the link to each company at the very bottom of this blog under title Neuromonitoring Companies and Centers.

Two of the latest addition are Synapse neuromonitoring and Argos Neuromonitoring, the list will be updated periodically.

Neuromonitoring News!

Biotronics-a neuromonitoring company based in Ann-Arbor acquired another company :American Neuromonitoring of Farmington Hills. Here is the story......

Deal positions Biotronics for growth
"This is historically a very fragmented industry. ... Only in the last few years have (companies) begun to build to serving 20, 40 and, in our case, hundreds of clinicians in the field. Once you get yourself in a larger scale, you're able to provide a better price point to hospitals." - Gene Balzer, Biotronics chief executive officer.

By TINA REEDThe Ann Arbor News
As the practice of monitoring patients' nerve functions during spinal surgeries grows in popularity, an Ann Arbor-based company said it's aggressively trying to grow itself to make the practice more accessible to U.S. hospitals.

Biotronic NeuroNetwork recently acquired American Neuromonitoring of Farmington Hills in a move it hopes will position itself for future acquisitions and increase its monitoring expertise, said Gene Balzer, Biotronics chief executive officer.

How Much Risk Surgery Posses & What Neuromonitoring can Do?

Michael Dinkel et al., writes about the possible risks and outcomes of patients with disability in various surgery, and how neuromonitoring can help prevent such risks by identifying and localizing the risks in time?.

Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring
Michael Dinkel, M.D.
Department of Anaesthesiology Frankenwaldklinik
Ulrich Beese, M.D.
Department of Anaesthesiology University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Michael Messner, M.D.
Department of Anaesthesiology University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Citation:

Michael Dinkel, Ulrich Beese, Michael Messner: Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring .
The Internet Journal of Neuromonitoring. 2001 . Volume 2 Number 2.


The rate of permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve paresis after thyroidectomy for instance comes up to 9%. Almost 40% of patients with acute dissection of the thoracoabdominal aorta suffer from paraplegia after aneurysm repair. Despite a wake-up test 0.7 to 1.6% are paraplegic after corrective procedures for scoliosis. After cardiac procedures with extracorporal circulation there is a 1 to 3% incidence of severe neurologic deficits and an incidence of cognitive deficits running up to 80%. Finally the stroke rate after carotid endarterectomy comes to 7% in well documented series [2, 3 , 4 ,5,7].
Further Reading: click the above topic linked.....!

Cardiovascular Surgery (like Cardiopulmanory bypass-CPB) & Neuromonitoring!

The following article demonstrates that neuromonitoring is very useful in cardiovascular surgeries, especially in patients with cerebrovascular diseases.

Intraoperative neuromonitoring in cardiac surgical patients with severe cerebrovascular disease
Alexander Kulik, MD, Rosendo A. Rodriguez, MD PhD, Howard J. Nathan, MD and Marc Ruel, MD MPH
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, E-mail: akulik@ottawaheart.ca

To the Editor:
Patients with severe cerebrovascular disease are at a high risk of neurologic complications during cardiac surgery, as a result of cerebral embolization or hypoperfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Intraoperative neuromonitoring, including transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) and electroencephalography (EEG), may be particularly useful in patients with cerebrovascular disease.1 We hereby present two cases that illustrate the use of intraoperative neuromonitoring during cardiac surgery in patients with severe cerebrovascular disease.

Auditory "Brain stem Implant Electrode"- Frequency Tuning?

How important it is to fine tune the frequency specificity in the ventral cochlear nucleus and central inferior collicular neurons, the following research work published in the Oct 2007 issue of "Journal of Neurophysiology" used multichannel microelectrodes to map the frequency specfic patterns of activity in VCN and Inferior colliculus neurons.

TRANSLATIONAL PHYSIOLOGY
Inferior Colliculus Responses to Multichannel Microstimulation of the Ventral Cochlear Nucleus: Implications for Auditory Brain Stem Implants

Mohit N. Shivdasani1,2,3, Stefan J. Mauger1,2,3, Graeme D. Rathbone1,3 and Antonio G. Paolini1,2

Submitted 7 June 2007; accepted in final form 6 October 2007

Multichannel techniques were used to assess the frequency specificity of activation in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CIC) produced by electrical stimulation of localized regions within the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN). Data were recorded in response to pure tones from 141 and 193 multiunit clusters in the rat VCN and the CIC, respectively. Of 141 VCN sites, 126 were individually stimulated while recording responses in the CIC.....................

Hearing Loss, what is Trigeminal Nerve doing instead of VIII Nerve?

Dorsal cochlear nucleus responses to somatosensory stimulation are enhanced after noise-induced hearing loss
S. E. Shore1,2,3
1Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute
2Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and
3Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,
S. Koehler1,3
1Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute
3Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA,
M. Oldakowski1
1Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute,
L. F. Hughes4
4Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery/Otolaryngology, Springfield, IL, USA and
S. Syed1
1Department of Otolaryngology, Kresge Hearing Research Institute

The above article published in the latest issue of "European Journal of Neuroscience, discusses issues on hearing loss and possible involvement of trigeminal nerve?

Abstract:
Hearing loss due to VIII nerve damage or loss of synaptic connectivity of VIII nerve in the cochlear nucleus is a common degenerative changes observed in models of noise damage, similar degeneration of terminals also reported in cases of hearing loss in humans. However, the above article discusses the possiblity of the involement of "Trigeminal Nerve" as a compensatory response to the loss of VIII nerve connections following noise induced hearing loss in animal models. How much of this compensatory response is due to hearing loss or changes in VIII nerve connectivity is not clear, however, it is interesting to note how the neighbouring cranial nerve respond.

The authors observe the following changes in responses to trigeminal stimulation: The guinea pigs with noise-induced hearing loss had significantly lower thresholds, shorter latencies and durations, and increased amplitudes of response to trigeminal stimulation than normal animals. Noise-damaged animals also showed a greater proportion of inhibitory and a smaller proportion of excitatory responses compared with normal. Authors also argue that there is increased inhibitory responses and increased activity of somatosensory response, prompting them to conclude a role of somatosensory inputs in noise induced hearing loss? is yet to be clarified by extensive studies!.

Here is a Science Daily which is jumbing into conclusions of the following kind?.
'Ringing In The Ears' May Be Caused By Overactive Nerves, Acupuncture May Help, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2008) — Do your ears ring after a loud concert? Nerves that sense touch in your face and neck may be behind the racket in your brain, University of Michigan researchers say.
Note: the above image is from Science Daily.

Scoliosis & More

The following article on Scoliosis provide a comprehensive look at what is scoliosis and related surgical interventions. Though, hard to explain the causes for scolisosis, efforts to understand this disease provided us more knowledge. Intraoperative neuromonitoring is extensively used in scoliosis correction surgical procedures.

Scoliosis and Proprioception
Robert Schleip
Published in Rolf Lines, Vol. 28, No.4 (Fall 2000)
Most types of scoliosis are classified as ‘idiopathic scoliosis’ which means that the reasons for this type of rotational deformity of the spine are yet unknown. Nevertheless there are all kinds of assumptions, beliefs and anectdotal reports available in the alternative health community concerning the main causes and driving factors.........................


Central Nervous System Processing in Idiopathic Scoliosis
By Jerry Larson, M.A.
Diplomate, American Board of Neurophysiological Monitoring

"The clinical manifestations of idiopathic scoliosis are well known, yet its causes remain unclear. Several factors have been proposed, including abnormal structural elements of the spine, dysfunctional spinal musculature, genetic factors, alterations of collagen metabolism, and abnormalities of the central nervous system. The most promising investigations appear to implicate the central nervous system, especially those areas involved with postural equilibrium. Spinal cord reflexes play an integral role in the maintenance of posture. These complex polysynaptic segmental reflexes are regulated by a variety of descending suprasegmental systems, by peripheral afferent impulses and within the spinal ....................

IONM the Gold Standard of Patient Safety? By David J.Anschel, M.D

David J. Anschel, M.D.
Contributing Editor of MedCompare,

David J. Anschel writes about the developments in "Itraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring and its medical usage:

IONM has become the gold standard for ensuring patient safety while undergoing operations which place the central or peripheral nervous system at risk. Technological advancements within the last few years have allowed monitoring techniques to evolve. The above robust systems are representative of the best that modern medicine has to offer. Allowing neurologists and surgeons to work together to provide better patient outcomes during more complicated procedures in close proximity to vital neurological tissues.

Spinal Cord Injury & the debilitating condition!

Why neuroregeneration research, stem cells and its research are important to this world?.
Just watch this video, put your few min aside to see this spinal cord injury and its impact on Mike's life...!?

SAFETY IN THE OR: By Association of Peri Operative Registered Nurses, ALAMEDA county #0501

The Peri-Operative registered Nurses of Alameda country chapter #0501 has this fabulous informative site about what and what not to do in the OR, OR safety and policies. Though it was written for vendors (the suppliers and tech's), it is a great informative sources for anyone in the OR, the neurophysiolgosits and neuromonitoring crew's may find this very useful and informative, I did so. Thanks to the AORN for such a useful resources of knowledge in OR.

Vendor Policy - AORN of Alameda County
VendorsIn The Operating Room

Following completion of the self-directed learning module, the Vendor will be able to:
1. Classify various areas within the surgical suite, (e.g., restricted, semirestricted and unrestricted).
2. Describe proper surgical attire.
3. Describe proper handwashing technique and its importance.
4. Compare and contrast the communicability of HIV, HAV and HBV.
5. Describe steps to follow during a fire in the operating room.
6. Describe basic procedure during electrical outage.
7. Name plans for prevention of tuberculosis exposure.

Aseptic Technique
Aseptic technique is essential in all operating rooms. It should be considered the "law of the land". If breached, the consequences can be far-reaching and potentially devastating to the patient and the reputation of the hospital involved. The patient is particularly at risk for invasion of exogenous bacterial infections because the most significant protective barrier (the skin) is interrupted during surgery. Therefore, this is one of the most important sections in this module.

For the full site and details of the safety policy, read at:

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3615506595623153265

the above images are obtained from the article:

Making the Operating Room a Safer Place
Michael Garvin, MHA11/01/2002
Making the Operating Room a Safer Place
By Michael Garvin, MHA

Remifentenil Reduces Patient Movement during Neurosurgery?

Doctors Guide is a very informative website on various fields of medicine and related subjects, mainly aimed to serve the doctors and information seekers in the allied health field and general public. http://www.docguide.com. It is freely accessible, if you want to personalize, you have to register and it is free.

The following article is relevant and interesting to neurophysiologists who do intraoperative neuromonitoring, also for anesthesiologists and the neurosurgeons who are concerned about patient movement during surgical procedure. In the recent annual meeting of the "American Soceity of Anesthesiologists the following work on Remifentanil was presented. Arushi Sinha, PhD writes about a presentation on how remifentanil can reduce patient movement during neurosurgery.


New Approaches for Reducing Patient Movement During Neurosurgery:
Presented at ASA
By Arushi Sinha, PhDSAN FRANCISO, CA -- October 23, 2007 --
Remifentanil reduces the risk of movement in the absence of muscle relaxants among patients undergoing elective craniotomy, researchers reported here at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).In the case of neuroanaesthesia surgeries, muscle relaxants may not be indicated, particularly if intraoperative monitoring of motor evoked potentials or electromyography are involved. Alternative agents, such as remifentanil and propofol, may be used in such settings according to recent research.Marco Maurtua, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and his colleagues designed a study to characterise the role of remifentanil in reducing movement associated with neurosurgical stimuli and to examine the incidence of bradycardia and hypotension in elective craniotomy patients.

[Presentation title: Remifentanil Prevents Movement During Neurosurgery in the Absence of Neuromuscular Blockade. Abstract A1481]

Microsfot Chairman Bill Gate's-Where is his Next Niche?

Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft corporation is next aiming to revolutionize the health industry with the internet and information technology.

The following commentery of Bill Gates implicate that he is already into this area, knowing his next venture is a niche of billions to come?. Whether it is money or revolutionizing concept, the medical field does need to have to incorporate the technology to enable us to understand the patient's health status better which might lead to a comprehensive way of approaching the patient's condition for better treatment. Immmmmmm.............his mouth is where the money is?.

Health Care Needs an Internet Revolution
By BILL GATESOctober 5, 2007; Page A17

We live in an era that has seen our knowledge of medical science and treatment expand at a speed that is without precedent in human history. Today we can cure illnesses that used to be untreatable and prevent diseases that once seemed inevitable. We expect to live longer and remain active and productive as we get older. Ongoing progress in genetics and our understanding of the human genome puts us on the cusp of even more dramatic advances in the years ahead.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119154401245949675.html?mod=sphere_ts

Some Stats about CNIM Exam

CNIM Written Exam 2003-2006
One of the following must be met and verified for candidates

to be eligible to take the CNIM Exam:

Health care credential plus documentation of 100 cases monitored
Bachelor’s degree plus documentation of 100 cases monitored
68% passed on their first attempt. The pass rate for repeaters was 46%.
39% had another health care credential. Their pass rate was 50%.
61% of candidates had a bachelor’s degree or higher and a 61% pass rate.
Some of the candidates with bachelor’s or advanced degrees, also documented they had another health care credential.
Procedures Performed in the OR Totals
Totals Percentage
Spinal Nerve EMG 911 83%
Motor Pathway 783 71%
Intraop Scalp EEG 719 65%
BAEP 661 60%
Cranial Nerve EMG 619 56%
Cortical mapping 337 31%
ECOG 197 18%
VEP 139 13%

41% of candidates stated CNIM was a Job Requirement. This was the most common reason stated for taking the exam. The second most common response was Professional Advancement (34%) and the third reason selected was Personal Goal (18%).

American Society of Anesthesiologissts: Upcoming Conference & Abstracts on Neuromonitoring

Tha annual meeting of American Association of Anesthesiologist will be held during

October 13-17, 2007 San Francisco, CA. There are several interesting research and clinical studies on using neuromonitoring, how different anesthesia affects the intraoperative recording. You can click this highligted assn "Amer Assoc Anesthesiologist Meeting" and read all the important abstracts.

Here is a sample abstrat:

A1 October 13, 2007 9:00 AM - 10:30 PM

Room 301
Somatosensory and Motor Evoked Potentials during Sevoflurane and Propofol Anesthesia

Michael S. Kincaid, M.D., Michael J. Souter, M.D., Patrick D. Bryan, Mark Klein, Arthur M. Lam, M.D.Anesthesiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

Background and Purpose: Transcranial electrical motor evoked potentials (MEP) have joined somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) as an important aspect of neurophysiologic monitoring during both intracranial and spine surgery. General anesthesia is known to diminish the quality of signals with SSEP, decreasing amplitude and increasing latency, with volatile anesthesia having a greater effect than intravenous anesthesia. There is little quantitative information on the comparative effect of volatile and intravenous anesthetics on MEP signal quality, however. The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of propofol and sevoflurane on SSEP and MEP in patients undergoing both spine and neurosurgical procedures.

Neuromuscular Scoliosis- Intraoperative Neuromonitoring: Challenges!

Nature Clinical Practice Neurology (2007) 3, 318-319
doi:10.1038/ncpneuro0502
Received 7 December 2006 Accepted 5 April 2007
Published online: 8 May 2007

Intraoperative monitoring during spinal surgery for neuromuscular scoliosis
Michael G Fehlings* and Michael O Kelleher
Correspondence *Suite 4WW-446, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5T 2S8, Canada Email michael.fehlings@uhn.on.ca

This article has no abstract so we have provided the first paragraph of the full text.

The avoidance of iatrogenic neurological injury is of paramount importance during spinal surgery, and multimodality intraoperative monitoring using a combination of MEPs, SSEPs and electromyographic (EMG) signals is increasingly used in this setting.1, 2 During corrective procedures for neuromuscular scoliosis, however, the successful application of intraoperative monitoring is a challenge

, particularly in the most severely deformed and neurologically compromised patients.3 Difficulties in obtaining reliable baseline recordings of conventional (cortical and subcortical) SSEPs and transcranial MEPs in patients with neuromuscular scoliosis has prompted the use of an epidural electrode to record spinal SSEPs and evoke neurogenic MEPs.

Neuromuscular Scoliosis?- Intraoperative Neuromonitoring!!

Michael G Fehlings* and Michael O Kelleher

Correspondence 

*Suite 4WW-446, 399 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5T 2S8, Canada

Email michael.fehlings@uhn.on.ca

This article has no abstract so we have provided the first paragraph of the full text.

• The avoidance of iatrogenic neurological injury is of paramount importance during spinal surgery, and multimodality intraoperative monitoring using a combination of MEPs, SSEPs and electromyographic (EMG) signals is increasingly used in this setting.^{1, 2} During corrective procedures for neuromuscular scoliosis, however, the successful application of intraoperative monitoring is a challenge, particularly in the most severely deformed and neurologically compromised patients.³ Difficulties in obtaining reliable baseline recordings of conventional (cortical and subcortical) SSEPs and transcranial

  MEPs in patients with neuromuscular scoliosis has prompted the use of an epidural electrode to record spinal SSEPs and evoke neurogenic MEPs.

You do Spine surgery and Do not monitor nerves..Why?

Neuro monitoring (a.k.a.: Neurophysiologic Intraoperative Monitoring) may be one of the most exciting and important €œold€ innovations to come into spine and neuro surgery in decades.

Think of it, what surgeon would dare operate without blood gas monitoring? Or blood pressure monitoring?

So why operate without nerve monitoring?

We recently talked with Debra Zacharko, who teaches neuro monitoring for NeuroMatrix in Atlanta. She described a case in which one of her clients scheduled a straightforward laminectomy and declined to use neuro monitoring. €œSo, I told him that I'€™d perform the monitoring for free,€ said Zacharko, €œand when I showed him the wave form tapes

he was amazed to see how much nerve irritation there is even in a simple laminectomy.€

An Excellant Collection of Human Brain Anatomy and Atlas Sites

The following list of websites for Neuroanatomy, Neuropathology of Human brains and atlas is a very comprehensive and excellent collection.

Some Example sites:

The Digital Anatomist - University of Washington, Seattle, US

Neuroscience Tutorial - Washington University, St.Louis, US

HyperBrain - University of Utah, US

Gross Anatomy of the Human Brain - McGill University, Montreal, CA

Outline of Brodmann's Areas - University of California, US

For full list of sites, click the above site url.

Some Example Atlases:
Nervous System Crossed Sectioned Images - University of California, Los Angeles, US

Texas tech Neuro Atlas - Texas Tech University, Lubbock, US

Labeled And Unlabeled Gross Brain Images - Indiana University, Fort Wayne, US
Atlante Anatomica del Sistema Nervoso Centrale - Universita di Bologna, IT (in Italian)

Hi Administrator, I came across your website and wanted to notify you about a broken link on your page in case you weren't aware of it. The link on http://neuromonitoring1.blogspot.com/2007/06/excellant-collection-of-human-brain.html which links to http://thalamus.wustl.edu/course is no longer working.  I've included a link to a useful page on the anatomy of the brain that you could replace the broken link with if you're interested in updating your website. Thanks for providing a great resource! Link: http://www.surgicaltechnologist.net/resources/guide-to-brain-anatomy/ Best, Adie

Surgical Technologist’s Guide to Brain Anatomy

Despite all the research and studies we have, we still do not know all there is to know about the human brain. While there is still much to learn, we do know that the nervous system has many divisions working in conjunction with one another. This article will focus largely on the central nervous system, related neurological pathways and neurolinguistics, with an emphasis on the brain its anatomy. You can find a basic introduction to the peripheral nervous system at Dartmouth University’s Neuroscience department. The central nervous system directs the functions of all tissues of the body and can be seen through many different techniques, including pictures, MRI imaging, cross-sectioning, and labeled diagrams. Below you’ll find a collection of resources categorized by images of the brain, guides to neurolinguistics, studies on neurological pathways and further reading and images about specific parts of the central nervous system, categorized by the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. Included at the very end are links to journals, research and organizations related to brain anatomy.

STEM CELL Research & White House?

Funding for scientific research is the lowest ever, hope there is no argument on this, but yet, no groundbreaking changes, neither there is any rethinking happens in the white house nor there is any progress among the scientific lobbying forces.

The debate on stem cell research fund is continuing, where is it going is just nobody's guess?.

House Votes to Expand Stem Cell Research: Passage of the bill?

WASHINGTON, June 7 — The House gave final Congressional approval on Thursday to legislation aimed at easing restrictions on federal financing of embryonic stem cell research, but Democratic leaders in both chambers conceded they were short of the votes needed to override a veto threatened by President Bush.

To Read full article, click the title underlined.

Congress Passes Stem Cell Legislation
American Academy of Neurology

June 11, 2007
On June 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed

the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S.5) by a vote of 247 to 176.

Though the House already passed similar legislation in January, S. 5 is the version approved by the Senate.

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act would allow federal funding for research using stem cells derived from human embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients. S. 5 differs from previous versions of this bill because it also includes language that requires the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research and fund methods for creating embryonic stem cell lines without destroying embryos.

Only five percent of existing stem-cell lines (21 out of over 400) may currently be used in federally funded research, limiting the ability of American researchers to pursue pioneering stem-cell research.Now that S. 5 has been passed by both the House and Senate, it will be sent to the President, who has again threatened to veto this bill.

In April, the AAN sent a letter to President Bush urging him to sign S. 5 into law. In addition, nearly 300 AAN members have contacted Congress in support of this legislation. To learn more and to send your own letters of support on this issue, visit the AAN's page on ESCR advocacy.

Nature Reports Stem Cells

Published online: 14 June 2007 doi:10.1038/stemcells.2007.35

California awards $50 million for labs culturing human embryonic stem cells
Monya Baker1 

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has approved grants totaling over $50 million to fund dedicated laboratory space for culturing human embryonic stem cells.

The grants will go to design, build, and renovate core laboratories to be used by multiple investigators and multiple institutions. This brings the total award value of grants awarded by CIRM to just over $208 million.

Brain Mapping & Electro-corticography?

What is brain Mapping??, what are the types of recording system available to record selective areas of the brain during brain surgery. Dr.Anschel, MD reviews the available techniques

Electro-corticography Systems in Surgery of the Brain
Technology Spotlight
David J. Anschel, M.D.
Contributing Editor

The human brain is a fantastically complicated organ. On any given day, the average man does not give much thought to this 3 pound; blood gorged, gelatinous mass stuck on his shoulders.

However, the brain is responsible for controlling nearly ever human behavior and action. It is the source of all human creativity and accomplishments and everything mankind will ever achieve.

It has long been known that all of this fascinating power is not distributed evenly throughout its neuronal interweave. Most brain functions are based in discreet areas, and often brain dysfunction occurs focally.

• These facts are critical to the modern neurosurgical approach to disease and are the basis for electrocorticography. The process of recording brain electrical activity directly from the exposed brain surface using electrodes, electrocorticography is most often used to precisely localize critical brain structures in order to avoid them when operating upon diseased areas of the brain.

  Additionally, electrocorticography is particularly useful while planning epilepsy surgery, as the onset and electrical propagation of a seizure may be mapped accurately. Electrocorticography may be used intraoperatively or at the bedside.

Benign Or Metastatic Tumor Removal &The importance of IntraOperative Neuromonitoring

Resection of a benign brachial plexus nerve sheath tumor using intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring.

Kwok K, Davis B, Kliot M.
Department of Neurosurgery,
University of California at Davis, Sacramento, California 95825, USA. keithkwok2004@yahoo.com

OBJECTIVE: Benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors arising from the brachial plexus are rare. Neurosurgeons often lack the clinical and surgical experience to optimize the management of these uncommon tumors. We filmed a video depicting the surgical resection of a benign peripheral nerve sheath tumor involving the brachial plexus. METHODS: An illustrative case was used to demonstrate the proper management of a brachial plexus nerve sheath tumor including the important role of intraoperative electrophysiological neuromonitoring during tumor resection. RESULTS: Using an illustrative case, we describe a systematic approach in the evaluation and surgical management of patients with a brachial plexus nerve sheath tumor. The importance of taking a thorough clinical history, performing a thorough physical examination, applying high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging techniques to visualize the pathology, and using intraoperative electrophysiological neuromonitoring during surgical exposure and resection of the tumor are stressed. Combined with appropriate postoperative treatment, these techniques minimize the risks and increase the likelihood of achieving a good clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Brachial plexus nerve sheath tumors are challenging mass lesions that should be evaluated and surgically resected by an experienced team of physicians to optimize clinical outcome.

Neuromonitoring during surgery for metastatic tumors to the spine: intraoperative interpretation and management strategies.
Quiñones-Hinojosa A, Lyon R, Ames CP, Parsa AT.

Department of Neurological Surgery,
Brain Tumor Research Center, University of California-San Francisco,
505 Parnassus Avenue, M-779, San Francisco, CA 94143-0112, USA.
quinones@neurosurg.ucsf.edu

Resection of metastatic tumors of the spine poses great technical challenges, with the potential of creating severe neurologic deficits. Several modalities of electrophysiologic monitoring, including SSEPs and MEPs, have evolved to aid in resection of these tumors. This review has presented additional techniques-such as mapping of the dorsal columns with antidromic-elicited SSEPs to plan the myelotomy and direct intra-medullary stimulation-that help to identify the extent of the tumor margin at its interface with functional tracts. Neuromonitoring can potentially minimize the sensory and motor damage that can occur during resection of metastatic tumors of the spine. Further experience with these techniques should allow improved results follow-ing surgical procedures in functionally eloquent are as of the spinal cord during the surgical management of metastatic tumors

Regeneration: Sensory vs Motor nerves?

Comparison of the fastest regenerating motor and sensory myelinated axons in the same peripheral nerve
Mihai Moldovan1, Jesper Sørensen1,2 and Christian Krarup1,

Brain 2006 129(9):2471-2483; doi:10.1093/brain/awl184

Functional outcome after peripheral nerve regeneration is often poor, particularly involving nerve injuries far from their targets. Comparison of sensory and motor axon regeneration before target reinnervation is not possible in the clinical setting, and previous experimental studies addressing the question of differences in growth rates of different nerve fibre populations led to conflicting results. We developed an animal model to compare growth and maturation of the fastest growing sensory and motor fibres within the same mixed nerve after Wallerian degeneration. Regeneration of cat tibial nerve after crush (n = 13) and section (n = 7) was monitored for up to 140 days, using implanted cuff electrodes placed around the sciatic and tibial nerves and wire electrodes at plantar muscles. To distinguish between sensory and motor fibres, recordings were carried out from L6–S2 spinal roots using cuff electrodes. The timing of laminectomy was based on the presence of regenerating fibres along the nerve within the tibial cuff. Stimulation of unlesioned tibial nerves (n = 6) evoked the largest motor response in S1 ventral root and the largest sensory response in L7 dorsal root. Growth rates were compared by mapping the regenerating nerve fibres within the tibial nerve cuff to all ventral or dorsal roots and, regardless of the lesion type, the fastest growth was similar in sensory and motor fibres.