BACKGROUND: Safe and complete surgical resection of brainstem cavernoma is difficult without injury surrounding normal structures because the lesions are deep and intra-axial. In this article, the authors describe the "microroll retractor" technique for brainstem cavernoma surgery. METHODS: The microroll retractor is made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheet. The sheet is cut in several sizes of square piece and transformed into a tubular shape. We insert this roll retractor via minimal brain incision and keep surgical corridor without usual spatulas during lesionectomy. RESULTS: This technique was adopted for 7 patients with brainstem cavernomas. In all patients, we achieved total excision; improvement was recorded in 6 patients, and no change was recorded in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: The microroll retractor is extremely simple but provides enough surgical corridors for safe total resection of brainstem cavernomas.
BACKGROUND: Safe and complete surgical resection of brainstem cavernoma is difficult without injury surrounding normal structures because the lesions are deep and intra-axial. In this article, the authors describe the "microroll retractor" technique for brainstem cavernoma surgery. METHODS: The microroll retractor is made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene sheet. The sheet is cut in several sizes of square piece and transformed into a tubular shape. We insert this roll retractor via minimal brain incision and keep surgical corridor without usual spatulas during lesionectomy. RESULTS: This technique was adopted for 7 patients with brainstem cavernomas. In all patients, we achieved total excision; improvement was recorded in 6 patients, and no change was recorded in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: The microroll retractor is extremely simple but provides enough surgical corridors for safe total resection of brainstem cavernomas.
Authors: Evan D Bander; Samuel H Jones; David Pisapia; Rajiv Magge; Howard Fine; Theodore H Schwartz; Rohan Ramakrishna Journal: J Neurooncol Date: 2018-11-16 Impact factor: 4.130