Safety and feasibility of curved lead simultaneously implanted into pedunculopontine nucleus and subthalamic nucleus

To the Editor:Combined nuclei stimulation may have a synergistic effect on controlling the symptoms of nervous system diseases and improving quality of life.[1]However,increasing of leads may increase costs and complications.[2]Therefore,our study aims to investigate the safety and feasibility of the single curved lead,which can simultaneously reach both subthalamic nucleus(STN)and pedunculopontine nucleus(PPN).

Positron emission tomography imaging in gliomas

Glioma,the most frequent primary brain tumor in adults,is a highly infiltrative tumor exhibiting resistance to most treatments and associated with short survival of patients.Positron emission tomography(PET)imaging using various tracers takes advantage of the increased metabolic rate of neoplastic cells,in order to detect tumors and validate the treatment response.The most frequently used PET tracer,the(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG),is useful during the initial and follow-up assessment of patients with gliomas because it can assist in the selection of the initial biopsy site and to assess early response to a given therapeutic intervention.Furthermore,when there is tumor re-growth after an initial remission,FDG-PET can differentiate between true tumor recurrence versus necrosis from radiation therapy.Newly developed PET tracers may exhibit better sensitivity than FDG to diagnose primary brain tumors,but may occasionally produce false positive results in various conditions.In any event,PET is a useful tool in patients with central nervous system cancer during both initial assessment and follow-up.

The conflict on posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome: a clinical mini review

Is Borrelia burgdorferi responsible for the persistence of symptoms after the standard successful course of antibiotics in Lyme disease patients?This highly controversial issue,concerning the underlying mechanism of posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome(PTLDS),still seems to be a matter of intense conflict of opinion.PTLDS is the manifestation of nonspecific symptoms including fatigue,musculoskeletal pain,dysesthesias,and neurocognitive deterioration after the standard antimicrobial therapy administered to patients suffering from Lyme disease.In this article,we review the conflicting views and published highlights of recent human studies regarding PTLDS.

Immunotherapeutic strategies for glioma treatment

Glioblastoma is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor.Despite intensive clinical investigation and several novel therapeutic approaches,the median survival continues to remain poor and it is usually in the range of fifteen months.Immunotherapy is a beacon of hope for cancer treatment and offers a different approach against glioma.Various approaches have been used,such as dendritic cell based vaccines,peptide vaccines,T-cell-based therapies and immune checkpoint blockade with promising results.This paper provided an overview of the results of the most exciting immune therapeutic strategies for the treatment of gliomas.

Exosomal circular RNAs inglioma:coexistenceof opportunitiesand challenges forapplication

Glioma is the most common primary tumor in the central nervous system.With the help of intercellular communication,glioma cells have the ability to survive in the tumor microenvironment(TME)and make it more suitable.