Tej D Azad

Johns Hopkins Medicine | JHUSOM · Department of Neurosurgery

Little is known regarding osteoporosis management between Traditional Medicare (TM) and Medicare Advantage (MA). MA beneficiaries had higher rates of osteoporosis testing and higher rates of osteoporosis drug treatment initiation rates. Following an osteoporotic fragility fracture, MA beneficiaries were more likely to be prescribed osteoporosis tre...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The optimal management strategy for pediatric patients with symptomatic moyamoya disease (MMD) is not well established. This systematic review and meta-analysis compares surgical vs conservative management and direct/combined bypass (DB/CB) vs indirect bypass (IB) for pediatric patients with symptomatic MMD. METHODS MEDLI...

Brain metastases (BM) are the second most common cause of mortality in metastatic melanoma. Despite increased screening, mortality remains substantial. Additionally, population-based studies of melanoma BM capture only synchronous metastases, therefore up-to-date epidemiological and survival studies may better inform screening and management strate...

Background Expandable lumbar interbody cages (ELICs) are commonly used for interbody fusion and provide lordotic correction by lengthening the anterior column of the vertebral spine. We sought to identify unique failure mechanisms and significant differences in the types of complications associated with ELICs as reported to the Food and Drug Admini...

Purpose This study sought to compare screw placement accuracy and outcomes between freehand (FH) and AR-guided pelvic fixation. While pelvic fixation is a critical technique in spinal deformity surgery, S2-alar iliac (S2AI) screw placement poses challenges. Methods We conducted a case-control study of 50 consecutive patients who underwent spinopel...

Study Design Narrative review. Objective The objective of this study is to explore and evaluate the role of novel technologies in enhancing the diagnosis, surgical precision, and rehabilitation of cervical spine trauma, and to discuss their potential impact on clinical outcomes. Summary of Background Data Traumatic cervical spine injuries are cha...

Background Brain metastases (BM) portend increased morbidity and mortality in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). We aimed to characterize the prevalence, timing, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes of BM associated with SCLC over the past decade. Methods Data from 4,014 patients with histologically confirmed SCLC were extracted fro...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Spinal chordomas are primary bone tumors where surgery remains the primary treatment. However, their low incidence, lack of evidence, and late disease presentation make them challenging to manage. Here, we report the postoperative outcomes of a large cohort of patients after surgical resection, investigate predictors for o...

Brain metastases (BM) portend increased morbidity and mortality in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), yet nationwide reporting of BM is lacking. We aimed to characterize the prevalence, timing, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes of BM associated with SCLC over the past decade. Data from 4,014 patients with histologically confirmed...

BACKGROUND Dynesys dynamic stabilization (DDS) is an alternative to surgical fusion for the operative management of degenerative lumbar spondylosis. Compared to rigid instrumentation and fusion, DDS is purported to preserve a higher degree of spinal range of motion and reduce the risk of developing adjacent segment disease (ASD). OBSERVATIONS A 60...

Case We present the case of a 59-year-old man who had MIS L4-5 decompression. He presented the next day with intractable back and leg pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed ventral displacement of the cauda equina and a subdural collection on the right L3/L4 nerve roots. Revision decompression revealed occult durotomy caudal and contralateral to...

OBJECTIVE Few large studies have investigated the factors and outcomes related to concomitant injuries occurring alongside mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) after motor vehicle collisions (MVCs). Thus, the objective of this study was to assess whether MVC characteristics predict which patients with mTBI will have concomitant whiplash injury, and w...

Coagulopathy development in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is among the significant complications that can negatively affect the clinical course and outcome of TBI patients. Timely identification of this complication is of utmost importance in the acute clinical setting. We reviewed TBI patients admitted to our trauma center from 2015 to 2021. Demogr...

OBJECTIVE The PEDSPINE I and PEDSPINE II scores were developed to determine when patients require advanced imaging to rule out cervical spine injury (CSI) in children younger than 3 years of age with blunt trauma. This study aimed to evaluate these scores in an institutional cohort. METHODS The authors identified patients younger than 3 years with...

Cerebrospinal fluid tumor-derived DNA (CSF-tDNA) analysis is a promising approach for monitoring the neoplastic processes of the central nervous system. We applied a lung cancer-specific sequencing panel (CAPP-Seq) to 81 CSF, blood, and tissue samples from 24 lung cancer patients who underwent lumbar puncture (LP) for suspected leptomeningeal disea...

OBJECTIVE The Glasgow Coma Scale–Pupils (GCS-P) score has been suggested to better predict patient outcomes compared with GCS alone, while avoiding the need for more complex clinical models. This study aimed to compare the prognostic ability of GCS-P versus GCS in a national cohort of traumatic subdural hematoma (SDH) patients. METHODS Patient dat...

Purpose The Johns Hopkins Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP) was implemented to overcome well-documented challenges in training and retaining physician-scientists by providing physician-scientist pathway training for residents and clinical fellows. The program’s core tenets include monthly seminars, individualized feedback on project propo...

Background and Objective Timely palliative care involvement offers demonstrable benefits for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients; however, palliative care consultations (PCCs) are used inconsistently during TBI management. This study aimed to employ advanced machine learning techniques to elucidate the primary drivers of PCC timing variability fo...

INTRODUCTION Interspinous process devices (IPDs) are a popular less invasive treatment option for lumbar degenerative disease. Studies suggest they may yield initial symptomatic relief but are not better than traditional surgery in improving function or quality of life and may increase reoperation and costs. Ideal indications remain contested. MET...

INTRODUCTION Previous studies comparing craniotomy (CO) versus decompressive hemicraniectomy (DC) for acute subdural hematoma (aSDH) evacuation after traumatic brain injury have not found significant association between surgical approach and patient outcome. We hoped to provide a more granular and real-world assessment of outcomes. METHODS One hun...

OBJECTIVE Sagittal alignment measured on standing radiography remains a fundamental component of surgical planning for adult spinal deformity (ASD). However, the relationship between classic sagittal alignment parameters and objective metrics, such as walking time (WT) and grip strength (GS), remains unknown. The objective of this work was to deter...

To achieve meaningful, patient-centered outcomes following adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery, it is crucial to engage in precise preoperative planning, perform excellent intraoperative execution, and ensure careful postoperative management. The field of multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing and should be integrated into t...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Growing evidence supports prompt surgical decompression for patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). Rates of concomitant tSCI and traumatic brain injury (TBI) range from 10% to 30%. Concomitant TBI may delay tSCI diagnosis and surgical intervention. Little is known about real-world management of this common inju...

Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) requires prompt diagnosis and intervention to minimize the risk of permanent neurologic deficit. Presently, SCI diagnosis and interventional planning rely on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is not always available or feasible for severely injured patients. Detection of disease-specific biomarkers in biofluids...

Simple Summary Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive brain tumors, with poor survival and early recurrence rates. The development of effective immunotherapy treatments has been limited by the infiltration-resistant and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments of these tumors. γδ T cells are unconventional T cells that have the potential to ov...

INTRODUCTION Brain metastases (BM) are the most common central nervous system tumors. The impact of oncological treatment on the prevention of BM is not well-defined. We report the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy directed at primary cancer on synchronous and metachronous BM survival. METHODS A large nationwide multi-institutional claims-b...

Technological advancements, particularly in the realm of augmented reality (AR), may facilitate more accurate and precise pedicle screw placement. AR integrates virtual data into the operator’s real-world view, allowing for the visualization of patient-specific anatomy and navigated trajectories. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of the accuracy...

Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a potential surgical adjunct in spine surgery. We review key developments in surgical AR and detail the technological milestones foundational for AR applications in spine surgery. We evaluate the studies that have analyzed AR systems in spine surgery and discuss the quality of these investigations. Finally, we...

Background and objectives: Despite the extensive amount of research aimed at comparing patient outcomes between microscopic transsphenoidal surgery (MTSS) and endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (ETSS) approaches, there has been relatively little recent investigation into the nationwide utilization and reimbursement trends of both techniques. This...

OBJECTIVE Brain metastases (BMs) are the most common CNS tumors, yet their prevalence is difficult to determine. Most studies only report synchronous metastases, which make up a fraction of all BMs. The authors report the incidence and prognosis of patients with synchronous and metachronous BMs over a decade. METHODS Study data were obtained from...

It is often challenging to distinguish cancerous from non-cancerous lesions in the brain using conventional diagnostic approaches. We introduce an analytic technique called Real-CSF (repetitive element aneuploidy sequencing in CSF) to detect cancers of the central nervous system from evaluation of DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Short intersp...

Objective: Prior research has not investigated the uncertainty in the relationship between patient frailty and postoperative outcomes after brain tumor surgery. The present study used Bayesian methods to quantify the statistical uncertainty between the 5-factor modified frailty index (mFI-5) and postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing brain...

Introduction: Targeted temperature management (TTM) has been associated with greater likelihood of neurological recovery among comatose survivors of cardiac arrest. However, the efficacy of TTM is not consistently observed, possibly due to heterogeneity of therapeutic response. The aim of this study is to determine if models leveraging multi-modal...

Background and objectives: Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction constitutes a leading cause of pain and disability. Although surgical arthrodesis is traditionally performed under open approaches, the past decade has seen a rise in minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques and new federally approved devices for MIS approaches. In addition to neuros...

OBJECTIVE In recent years, machine learning models for clinical prediction have become increasingly prevalent in the neurosurgical literature. However, little is known about the quality of these models, and their translation to clinical care has been limited. The aim of this systematic review was to empirically determine the adherence of machine le...

Background: Given the clinical heterogeneity of COVID-19 infection, we hypothesize the existence of subphenotypes based on early inflammatory responses that are associated with mortality and additional complications. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we extracted electronic health data from adults hospitalized patients between March 1, 2020...

INTRODUCTION Patient safety indicator (PSI) 04 is a quality index designed by the Agency for Health Research and Quality to measure Failure to Rescue (FTR). PSI 04 has been scrutinized for inaccurately measuring FTR, a framework developed to capture a hospital’s ability to identify and manage preventable complications and post-operative mortality....

INTRODUCTION An estimated fifty million Americans receive Medicare healthcare coverage, a number expected to increase with an aging population. Despite rising costs, prior studies have established a downward trend in Medicare reimbursement rates adjusted for inflation for commonly billed surgical procedures. However, it is unclear if these trends h...

INTRODUCTION The standard-of-care for post-operative care following elective craniotomy has historically been intensive care unit (ICU) admission. However, recent literature interrogating complications and interventions during this post-operative ICU stay suggests that all patients may not require this level of care. Thus, hospitals began implement...

Background: Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) is a critical tool used in the identification of epileptogenic zones. While stereotactic frame-based SEEG procedures have been performed traditionally, newer robotic assisted SEEG procedures have become increasingly common. Objective: To evaluate the accuracy, efficacy, and safety of the ExcelsiusG...

Background: Patients undergoing surgical procedures for spinal tumors are vulnerable to major adverse events (AEs) and death in the postoperative period. Shared decision making and preoperative optimization of outcomes require accurate risk estimation. Objective: To develop and validate a risk index to predict short-term major AEs after spinal t...

Background

Background Brain metastases (BM) constitute a significant cause of oncological mortality. Statistics on the incidence of BM are limited because of the lack of systematic nationwide reporting. We report the incidence of synchronous brain metastases (sBM), defined as BM identified at the time of primary cancer diagnosis from 2015 to 2019 using Nation...

We report the case of a 14-year-old boy who presented with extensive cerebellar and brainstem hemorrhage. Our presumptive diagnosis was a ruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM), but two cerebral angiograms showed no significant vascular abnormalities. The patient underwent posterior fossa craniotomy and microsurgical evacuation of the hematoma....

Background: An estimated 50 million Americans receive Medicare health care coverage. Prior studies have established a downward trend in Medicare reimbursement for commonly billed surgical procedures, but it is unclear whether these trends hold true across all neurosurgical procedures. Objective: To assess trends in utilization, charges, and reim...

OBJECTIVE In recent years, frailty indices such as the 11- and 5-factor modified frailty indices (mFI-11 and mFI-5), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification, and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) have been shown to be effective predictors of various postoperative outcomes in neurosurgical patients. The Hospital Fra...

Background: Improving neurosurgical quality metrics necessitates the analysis of patient safety indicator (PSI) 04, a measure of failure to rescue (FTR). Objective: To demonstrate that PSI 04 is not an appropriate measure for capturing FTR within neurosurgery. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study. Patients from Janu...

Background Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI), defined as blunt traumatic injury to the carotid or vertebral arteries, is associated with significant risk of stroke and mortality. Cervical spine trauma is a recognized risk factor for BCVI. Objective The objective of this study was to identify significant predictors of BCVI and its sequelae in pat...

OBJECTIVE The post-bypass stroke risk factors and long-term outcomes of moyamoya patients are not well documented. Therefore, the authors studied 30-day stroke risks and patients’ long-term physical, functional, and social well-being. METHODS This was a single-institution combined moyamoya disease (MMD) database interrogation and questionnaire stu...

Background Prompt surgical decompression after traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) may be associated with improved sensorimotor outcomes. Delays in presentation may prevent timely decompression after TSCI. Objective To systematically review existing studies investigating delays in presentation after TSCI in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)...

Background: Management of sporadic schwannomas is often dictated by a patient's clinical presentation and the tumor's behavior. For patients who are managed nonsurgically, there are little data available about the expected natural history. Objective: To evaluate the natural history and growth patterns of extracranial schwannomas including tumors...

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is an effective procedure for spondylolisthesis and pseudarthrosis but is not without risks. Surgeons and patients would benefit from an easy to use shared decision-making tool that can accurately predict patients at risk for mortality after ALIF. PURPOSE We developed the ALFA score to pre...

INTRODUCTION: Post-traumatic syringomyelia is an uncommon complication after traumatic spinal cord injury. This case study details our decision-making and surgical approach for a patient with symptomatic post-traumatic syringomyelia after sustaining a gunshot wound. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24-year-old man with past medical history of distant American...

Background Research on the effects of substance use disorders (SUDs) on postoperative outcomes within neurosurgical oncology has been limited. Therefore, the present study sought to quantify the effect of having a SUD on hospital length of stay (LOS), postoperative complication incidence, discharge disposition, hospital charges, 90-day readmission...

Lesions within the brain cavity pose critical challenges for diagnostics, particularly distinction between cancerous and non-cancerous lesions. We here introduce an analytic technique called Real-CSF to detect cancers of the central nervous system from evaluation of DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) f...

The ExcelsiusGPS (Globus Medical, Inc., Audubon, PA) robot received clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration for clinical use in 2017 with the first in human use for lumbar spine instrumentation at Johns Hopkins Hospital the same year. The applications of the robot soon expanded with the first interbody cage placement in 2020 a...

Objective While predictive analytic techniques have been used to analyze meningioma postoperative outcomes, to our knowledge, there have been no studies that have investigated the utility of machine learning (ML) models in prognosticating outcomes among skull base meningioma patients. The present study aimed to develop models for predicting postope...

Diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring of neurological diseases are limited by the poor specificity and limited resolution of currently available techniques. Analysis of circulating cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has emerged as a promising strategy for the diagnosis, molecular characterization, and monitoring of neurological disease. In comparis...

Objectives: The standard-of-care for postoperative care following elective craniotomy has historically been ICU admission. However, recent literature interrogating complications and interventions during this postoperative ICU stay suggests that all patients may not require this level of care. Thus, hospitals began implementing non-ICU postoperativ...

Objective To summarize the clinical characteristics, histo-genomic profiles, management strategies, and survival outcomes of H3K27M-altered adult diffuse midline gliomas (aDMGs). Methods PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases were used to identify relevant articles. Papers including H3K27M-altered aDMGs with sufficient clinical outcome data were i...

Background Context Awake spine surgery is growing in popularity, and may facilitate earlier postoperative recovery, reduced cost, and fewer complications than spine surgery conducted under general anesthesia (GA). However, trends in adoption of awake (ie, non-GA) spine surgery have not been previously studied. Purpose To investigate temporal trend...

INTRODUCTION Interest in machine-learning-(ML)-based predictive modeling has led to the development of models predicting aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) outcome, including the Nijmegen acute Subarachnoid Hemorrhage calculator (Nutshell). Generalizability of such models to external data and their performance in comparison to more establish...

INTRODUCTION Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with higher rates of SSI following a variety of surgical procedures. However, this association has been under-investigated for spinal procedures. METHODS Patients who underwent lumbar fusions between 2011-2014 were reviewed from the HCUP-NIS database. Propensity score matching was utilized to m...

Diagnosis of diffuse midline glioma (DMG) portends a grim prognosis, with less than 10% of patients surviving beyond 2 years.¹ Progress in characterizing the genomic and epigenetic landscape of DMG has catalyzed efforts to develop novel therapeutics. Recent work from Cantor et al suggests that blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) liquid biopsy could...

Objective: Within the neurosurgical oncology literature, the effect of structural and socioeconomic factors on postoperative outcomes remains unclear. In this study, the authors quantified the effects of social determinant of health (SDOH) disparities on hospital complications, length of stay (LOS), nonroutine discharge, 90-day readmission, and 90...

Heterogeneity is recognized as a major barrier in efforts to improve the care and outcomes of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Even within the narrower stratum of moderate and severe TBI, current management approaches do not capture the complexity of this condition characterized by manifold clinical, anatomical, and pathophysiologic feat...

This survey study assesses public support for or opposition to transparency measures regarding the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval process.

Background: Interest in machine learning (ML)-based predictive modeling has led to the development of models predicting outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), including the Nijmegen acute subarachnoid hemorrhage calculator (Nutshell). Generalizability of such models to external data remains unclear. Objective: To externally va...

The use of predictive models within neurosurgery is increasing and many models described in published journal articles are made available to readers in formats such as nomograms and online calculators. The present chapter details a step-by-step methodology with accompanying R code that may be used to implement models both in the form of traditional...

The history of machine learning in neurosurgery spans three decades and continues to develop at a rapid pace. The earliest applications of machine learning within neurosurgery were first published in the 1990s as researchers began developing artificial neural networks to analyze structured datasets and supervised tasks. By the turn of the millenniu...

A host of machine learning algorithms have been used to perform several different tasks in NLP and TSA. Prior to implementing these algorithms, some degree of data preprocessing is required. Deep learning approaches utilizing multilayer perceptrons, recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) represent commonly used t...

Background: Intracranial deposits of fat droplets are an unusual presentation of a spinal dermoid cyst after spontaneous rupture and are even more uncommon after trauma. Here, the authors present a case with this rare clinical presentation, along with a systematic review of the literature to guide decision making in these patients. Observations:...

Purpose There is a need to better understanding the prognostic factors that influence high-value care outcomes following meningioma surgery. The goal of this study was to develop predictive models to determine patients at risk for experiencing an extended hospital length of stay (LOS), non-routine discharge disposition, or a 90-day hospital readmis...