Albrecht Waschke

• MD
• Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Purpose Possible surgical therapies for odontoid fracture type IIb include odontoid screw osteosynthesis (OG) with preservation of mobility or dorsal C 1/2 fusion with restriction of cervical rotation. In order to reduce material loosening in odontoid screw osteosynthesis in patients with low bone density, augmentation at the base of the axis using...

Traumatic brain injury is common in children and can lead to death or considerable, long-lasting morbidity. We present the case of a 10-month-old female child who presented after being attacked by a cockerel in a chicken coop. Following a seizure, an MRI scan revealed an intracerebral haemorrhage underlying a stab-type wound inflicted by the bird....

Introduction Kyphoplasty is an established method of treating osteoporotic vertebral body compression fractures. In recent years, several techniques to enhance the efficiency and outcomes of this surgery have been developed and implemented in clinical practice. In the present study, we assess the impact of two new access instruments on overall oper...

Objective The assessment of the skin flap above cranial defects (SCD) following craniectomy is routine in neurosurgical practice, and a change in the consistency of the skin flap may indicate raised intracranial pressure or the occurrence of a complication necessitating intervention. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically useful clas...

Objectives: Osteoporotic bone predisposes to hardware loosening in patients with odontoid fracture treated with anterior odontoid screw fixation. Cement augmentation is an established method to increase screw anchorage in such cases. The aim of this study was to determine the intra- and perioperative surgical complications of this technique and a...

Background: The aim of our study was to identify factors that influence the occurrence of adjacent fractures in patients with cement-augmented pedicle screw instrumentation. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from medical charts and operative reports for every surgery in which cement-augmented instrumentation was used in our hospital o...

Concomitant radiochemotherapy followed by six cycles of temozolomide (= short term) is considered as standard therapy for adults with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. In contrast, open-end administration of temozolomide until progression (= long-term) is proposed by some authors as a viable alternative. We aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of...

Introduction: We retrospectively evaluated all patients with pituitary tumours treated in our department from 1/1/1997 to 01/11/2014. Patients and methods: Two hundred and fifteen patients (124 females, 91 males, mean age 50.9 years) were treated because of pituitary tumours. All patients underwent basal hormonal analysis and when required dynam...

Objective This prospective study evaluated the time to response and outcomes of navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at a frequency of 10 Hz in patients with chronic neuropathic pain. Methods This prospective study included patients with unilateral chronic neuropathic pain. All patients received motor cortex stimulation at...

Background Cerebellar hemorrhage is a potentially life-threatening condition and an understanding of the factors influencing outcome is essential for sound clinical decision-making. Methods We retrospectively evaluated data from 50 consecutive patients who suffered a first spontaneous cerebellar hemorrhage (SCH) from 2005 to 2014, analysing their...

Eine 30-jährige Patientin aus Äthiopien stellte sich mit seit 14 Tagen andauernden, lokalisierten Rückenschmerzen und progredienter Paraparese der Beine vor. Gleichzeitig hatte sie Fieber sowie unproduktiven Husten.

Degenerative spine disease in patients older than 65 years becomes more and more an issue of interest in daily routine. The following chapter resumes pathogenesis and clinical and radiological aspects. We present possible therapeutic approaches including cervical and lumbar pathologies against the background of the actual scientific data. Diagnosis...

Eine 30-jährige Patientin aus Äthiopien stellte sich mit seit 14 Tagen andauernden, lokalisierten Rückenschmerzen und progredienter Paraparese der Beine vor. Gleichzeitig hatte sie Fieber sowie unproduktiven Husten. Was steckte dahinter?

The symptomatic, degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis becomes more and more an important problem in elderly patients. This survey describes typical symptoms, diagnostic tools and current treatment options considering the actual literature. Pathophysiological basis is the progressive degeneration of lumbar osseous and disco ligamentous structures lea...

Rathke cleft cyst is described as benign intrasellar cyst. They are mostly small and asymptomatic; they may become large enough to cause symptoms by compression of intrasellar or suprasellar structures. We report on a case of spontaneous regression of a symptomatic RCC with subsequent recovery of preexisting endocrine dysfunction and resolution of...

Introduction Chronic neuropathic disorders remain difficult to treat. Analgesic medication often achieve only an insufficient effect, therefore other non-pharmacological treatment has to be considered. One option for management of intractable pain is stimulation of the motor cortex by implantation of an epidural electrode. This effect of invasive s...

Osteoporosis is considered to be a relative contraindication for anterior screw fixation of odontoid fractures because of reduced screw purchase. In the presence of osteoporosis, the most frequent mode of implant failure is via cut-out through the anterior wall of C2. Under in vitro conditions, cement-augmented odontoid screws show significant biom...

Study design: A biomechanical human cadaveric study. Objective: The authors tested a cannulated and perforated lag screw and compared in situ polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) augmentation against nonaugmentation for fixation of osteoporotic type II odontoid fractures. Summary of background data: Osteoporosis has been identified as a strong predic...

Background: Different studies have shown that atrophy of paraspinal muscles arises after open dorsal lumbar fusion, and the reasons for this atrophy are still not yet fully clarified. This prospective study investigates the extent of atrophy of the lumbar paraspinal muscles after open lumbar interbody fusion, its possible causes, and their associa...

Introduction Atypical facial pain as a kind of neuropathic disorders could occur after traumatic lesions and remains difficult to treat. One option for management of intractable pain is stimulation of the motor cortex by implantation of an epidural electrode. This effect of invasive stimulation could be replaced by transcranial magnetic stimulation...

Background: Postoperative scar formation appears regularly after lumbar disc operation and is seen as one possible reason for prolonged complaints after surgery. Therefore several materials have been developed to decrease scarring in the spinal canal without having proven a significant clinical effect. Material and methods: This retrospective analy...

Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis is increasingly being diagnosed in persons over age 65. In 2011, 55 793 older people with this condition were treated as inpatients in German hospitals. Among physicians, there is much uncertainty about the appropriate treatment strategy. Selective literature review. Lumbar spinal stenosis in older people is char...

Background: Expandable cervical cages have been utilised successfully to reconstruct the cervical spine for various conditions. However, to date there are only limited data on their influence on cervical sagittal profile. In this retrospective study, we present our experience with performing anterior cervical corpectomy in one or two levels using...

Object: In patients who have undergone decompressive craniectomy, autologous bone flap reinsertion becomes necessary whenever the cerebral situation has consolidated. However, aseptic necrosis of the bone flap remains a concern. The aim of this study was to report possible perioperative complications in patients undergoing autologous bone flap rei...

PURPOSE: Single center evaluation of the placement accuracy of thoracolumbar pedicle screws implanted either with fluoroscopy or under CT-navigation using 3D-reconstruction and intraoperative computed tomography control of the screw position. There is in fact a huge variation in the reported placement accuracy of pedicle screws, especially concerni...

Objective In general, glioblastomas multiforme (GBM) arise in the supratentorial region, but in less than 4% of cases they also occur in the posterior fossa, particularly in the cerebellum. Furthermore, a minority of malignant gliomas are multifocal. We report on an unusual case with infratentorial multifocal lesions, suspicious for metastases, whi...

Study design: Prospective observational clinical study. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the technical feasibility and the safety of additional cement augmentation of anterior cervical implants in patients with poor bone quality because of osteoporosis or tumor infiltration. Summary of background data: With an increasing number...

Besides the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures of AO type A1, balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) is seen as a therapeutic option even in the treatment of incomplete osteoporotic burst fractures (AO type A3.1). However, due to involvement of the posterior vertebral body wall, the risk of cement leakages is considered to be higher. This...

To evaluate the outcome of patients with spinal metastases, treated under palliative considerations by spinal decompression and sole posterior instrumentation, in respect to survival, neurological symptomatology, pain, ECOG grade, and Tomita's prognostic score (TPS). Fifty-seven consecutive patients with metastatic vertebral tumors were treated usi...

The operative treatment of subcortical metastatic tumours within the paracentral area is still under discussion. Against the background of possible new postoperative neurological deficits and of evolving new radio oncological techniques, the indication for surgery is limited only to a subgroup of patients. In this retrospective study we present the...

Halle, Wittenberg, Univ., Diss., 2002 (Nicht für den Austausch).