Ran Xu

Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin | Charité · Department of Neurosurgery with Pediatric Neurosurgery

Background: High grade gliomas are associated with a dismal prognosis. Notch inhibition via the gamma-secretase inhibitor RO2929097 has emerged as a potential therapeutic option based on modulation of the cancer-initiating cell (CIS) population and a presumed anti-angiogenic role. Methods: In this phase 0/I trial, 21 patients with newly-diagnose...

BACKGROUND Despite major advances in radiation and systemic treatments, surgery remains a critical step in the multidisciplinary treatment of metastatic spinal cord tumors. OBJECTIVE To describe the indications, rationale, and technique of “hybrid therapy” (separation surgery and concomitant spine stereotactic radiosurgery [SRS]) along with practi...

Objective The utilization of fluorescein-guided biopsies and resection has been recently discussed as a suitable strategy to improve and expedite operative techniques for the resection of central nervous system (CNS) tumors. However, little is known about the optical properties of sodium fluorescein (NaFl) in human tumor tissue and their potential...

Background: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) caused by rupture of an intracranial aneurysm, is a life-threatening emergency that is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Emerging evidence suggests involvement of the innate immune response in secondary brain injury, and a potential role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) for SAH-a...

Importance: Patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have regularly been excluded from prospective clinical trials that include therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Clinical data demonstrating benefit with ICIs, specifically following neurosurgical brain metastasis resection, are scarce. Objective: To e...

Background: Surgically accessible brain metastases are treated with microsurgical removal followed by radiation therapy, resulting in improved progression-free and overall survival. Some patients experience recurrence, prompting the need for effective management strategies. Despite the prevalence of recurrence, there remains a gap in the literature...

Introduction and Objectives: Patients with brain metastases (BrM) from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have regularly been excluded from prospective trials including therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Real-world data demonstrating the benefit of ICIs, specifically in patients following neurosurgical BrM resection, are still scarce...

Background: The therapeutic options for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are very limited and have undergone little to no advancement for almost two decades. Despite the success of checkpoint inhibition (CPI) in various tumors and promising results in GBM pre-clinical studies, no significant survival benefit was observed in clinical trials. One potent...

Background Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are challenging lesions, often requiring multimodal interventions; however, data on the efficacy of stereotactic radiosurgery for cerebral AVMs are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and radiographic results following robotic radiosurgery, alone or in combination with endovascul...

Purpose The present study aimed to assess the feasibility, safety and accuracy of navigated spinopelvic fixation with focus on S2-alar-iliac screws (S2AIS) and tricortical S1 pedicle screw implantation with the use of high-resolution three-dimensional intraoperative imaging and real-time spinal navigation. Methods Patients undergoing navigated int...

The utilization of fluorescein-guided biopsies has recently been discussed to improve and expedite operative techniques in the detection of tumor-positive tissue, as well as to avoid making sampling errors. In this study, we aimed to report our experience with fluorescein-guided biopsies and elucidate distribution patterns in different histopatholo...

The utilization of epidural electrodes in the preoperative evaluation of intractable epilepsy is a valuable but underrepresented tool. In recent years, we have adapted the use of cylindrical epidural 1-contact electrodes (1-CE) instead of Peg electrodes. 1-CEs are more versatile since their explantation is a possible bedside procedure. Here we repo...

The endovascular filament perforation model to mimic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a commonly used model - however, the technique can cause a high mortality rate as well as an uncontrollable volume of SAH and other intracranial complications such as stroke or intracranial hemorrhage. In this protocol, a standardized SAH mouse model is presented,...

The discovery of extracellular RNA (exRNA) has shifted our understanding of the role of RNA in complex cellular functions such as cell-to-cell communication and a variety of pathologies. ExRNAs constitute a heterogenous group of RNAs ranging from small (such as microRNAs) and long non-coding to coding RNAs or ribosomal RNAs. ExRNAs can be liberated...

Background: Resident education has to adapt to a changing healthcare environment. While aspects like working hours and attrition rates have been studied in detail, data about the residents' perspective, especially in European countries is underrepresented in the scientific literature. Objective: To assess and report aspects of neurosurgical educ...

Acute SAH from a ruptured intracranial aneurysm contributes for 30% of all hemorrhagic strokes. The bleeding it-self occurs in the subarachnoid space. Nevertheless, injury to the brain parenchyma occurs as a consequence of the bleeding, directly, via several well-defined mechanisms and pathways, but also indirectly, or secondarily. This secondary b...

Microglia represent the resident immune cells in the central nervous system. They survey the central nervous system and phagocytose debris in physiological and disease conditions. After brain injury events followed by stroke, microglia undergo specific phenotypic and morphological transformations. In addition, resident microglia play a pivotal role...

BACKGROUND: Posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) aneurysms represent a challenging pathology. PICA sacrifice is often necessary, due to the high proportion of nonsaccular aneurysms that can be found in this location. Several treatments are available, but the infrequency of these aneurysms and the increasing number of endovascular techniques...

Shunt-related procedures in the treatment of hydrocephalus may be often associated with malfunction and revision resulting in significant patient morbidity and financial impact on the healthcare system. The increased utilization of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) as an alternative treatment paradigm for obstructive hydrocephalus carries the...

Background and purpose: Spinal instrumentation plays a key role in the treatment of spinal instability in patients with metastatic tumors. Poor bone quality, radiation, and diffuse osseous tumor involvement present significant challenges to spinal stabilization with instrumentation and occasionally result in postinstrumentation compression fractur...

Spine metastases occur frequently in cancer patients. A variety of surgical approaches, including anterior transcavitary, lateral extracavitary, posterolateral, and/or combined techniques are used for spinal cord decompression and restoration of spinal stability. The incidence of symptomatic hardware failure is unknown for the majority of these app...