Surgical treatment for ruptured vertebral artery dissecting aneurysms.
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We analyze 20 cases of ruptured vertebral artery dissecting aneurysms and discuss the best choices for the surgical procedure. The preoperative Hunt and Kosnik grade was I in nine cases, Ia in four cases, II in three cases, III in three cases, and IV in one case. Rebleeding occurred in six cases, in four cases within 24 hours after the initial bleeding, and in every case within 6 days. In two cases surgery was performed within 3 days after the initial bleeding, in two cases within 4 to 7 days, in 16 cases after more than 7 days. A total of 22 operations were performed in the 20 patients (coating in 12, trapping in 6, proximal clipping of the vertebral artery in 2, clipping of the bleeding point in 2). A case of proximal clipping rebled 32 days after the operation and subsequently died. Both cases of clipping of the bleeding point were reoperated because of rebleeding and a slipped clip, respectively. All cases in which trapping or coating was performed resulted in a good outcome. Trapping is the most reliable method of preventing rebleeding. Coating or proximal clipping is an optional procedure, but cannot always prevent rebleeding because of the continuing circulation. (+info)
Clinical characteristics of vertebrobasilar artery dissection.
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Sixteen patients with the diagnosis of vertebral or basilar artery dissection who were admitted at the Seoul National University Hospital from 1972 to 1996 are described. During the same period, we encountered 76 patients with posterior circulation aneurysms, so the vertebrobasilar artery dissection was 21% of posterior circulation aneurysms. The mean age was 44 years, and male predominated. Nine patients presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and seven with ischemic symptoms. The characteristic angiographic finding of patients with SAH was aneurysmal dilatation (pseudoaneurysm) in eight of nine cases. In cases of ischemic symptoms, only one case had aneurysmal dilatation. Some other angiographic findings were demonstrated such as string sign, tapered narrowing, complete occlusion, or double lumen. Clinical course of SAH group was much different from that of ischemic group. Rebleeding occurred in three patients of SAH group; immediately after the rebleeding all patients became comatose, but after extraventricular drainage, all patients with rebleeding recovered rapidly. In SAH group, four of nine cases died but there was no mortality in the ischemic group. These four patients showed signs of stem failure, when computed tomography (CT) demonstrated no evidence of additional bleeding and follow-up CT showed the infarction at a part of stem and/or cerebellum. Vasospasm or sudden extensive extension of dissection could be the cause of death. Surgical management was performed in three patients, endovascular intervention in four, and conservative management in two. The patients with incomplete embolization or conservative management had poor outcome. In ischemic group, all underwent conservative management including anticoagulation and/or antiplatelet therapy. On follow-up, most of the patients with ischemic symptoms made complete or very good recoveries. (+info)
Treatment strategies and results in spinal vascular malformations.
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We report the treatment strategies and results of 70 patients with spinal vascular malformations. Forty-six had dural arteriovenous fistulas, 12 spinal cavernous angiomas, nine intramedullary angiomas, and three intradural arteriovenous fistulas. The diagnosis was established for cavernomas by magnetic resonance images only and in the other cases by selective spinal angiography in patients whose neurological deficits, myelograms or magnetic resonance images suggested the presence of a spinal vascular malformation. All patients had symptomatic vascular malformations and were treated microsurgically. Intramedullary angiomas were operated when embolization seemed too dangerous or impossible and when they had a contact to the dorsal or lateral surface of the spinal cord. All but one were completely resected. In one angioma a small ventral residual fistula area was left. Complete obliteration of all fistulas was achieved. The cavernomas were primarily resected. Apart from one postoperative permanent deterioration with a paresis of the left arm in a patient with an intramedullary angioma, 16 cases presented only a transitory worsening of their neurological status after surgery. The long-term outcome of all these patients was good. Five patients had to be operated on again: three patients showed difficult localizations of dural fistulas which were still visible in the postoperative angiograms, one patient suffered a spinal epidural hematoma, and another patient showed a cerebrospinal fluid accumulation. We conclude that spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas, small intradural fistulas, spinal cavernomas, and symptomatic spinal angiomas with contact to the lateral or dorsal surface can be treated microsurgically with low perioperative morbidity. (+info)
Cervical vertebral and subclavian artery reconstructions.
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At our institution, endovascular treatment of subclavian artery (SA) or vertebral artery (VA) occlusive disease has been used as the treatment of first choice during the last years. Open procedures were performed only in cases of failed or unfeasible endovascular treatment or total occlusion of the proximal VA or SA, respectively. Nineteen open procedures were performed between 1992 and 1996. Proximal reconstructions included SA to common carotid artery (CCA) transpositions or bypasses and VA to CCA transpositions. Distal reconstructions included transposition techniques or direct reconstruction in a few cases of traumatic lesions. The operative procedure used two-channel transcranial Doppler monitoring for cases involving simultaneous CCA and SA or VA cross clamping. There was one technical failure of a distal VA reconstruction. No surgical complications occurred. The recent pertinent literature with regard to indications and techniques of SA and VA reconstructions is discussed. (+info)
Multichannel fenestrations of the petrous segment of the internal carotid artery.
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Multichannel fenestration of the internal carotid artery (ICA) is a rare, previously unreported developmental anomaly with unknown clinical significance. Although previously thought to have distinct embryologic origins, the presence of multiple channels in a short-segment fenestration favors a common developmental pathway for the origin of duplications and fenestrations: the persistence of a plexiform vascular network from the 4-mm to 5-mm embryologic stage of development. (+info)
Extreme lateral transcondylar approach to the skull base.
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In this study, the authors present their experience of using extreme later transcondylar approach (ELTC) for treating 7 patients with lesions in the anterolateral foramen magnum, upper cervical spine and cerebellopontine angle reaching upto jugular foramen. The tumours included meningiomas, neurofibromas (2 cases each), chondrosarcoma, epidermoid and aneurysmal bone cyst (one case each). The approach was used alone, in combination with retrolabyrinthine presigmoid approach in a patient with lower cranial nerve neurofibroma extending extracranially through the jugular foramen, or in combination with partial C1-C3 laminectomy in two patients with meningiomas situated anterolateral to the cord from the foramen magnum to C3. In two patients with extradural vertebral artery (VA) entrapment by a chondrosarcoma and aneurysmal bone cyst respectively, the vertebral artery was ligated distal to the tumour. The tumours were totally excised in five cases and partially in two. There was no preoperative mortality. The major complications included cerebrospinal fluid leak from the wound (3 cases) and increase in lower cranial nerve paresis (2 cases). At follow up, ranging from 6 months to 2 years, 5 patients showed no tumour recurrence. There was improvement in neurological status. One patient, with a partially excised aneurysmal bone cyst, showed no added deficits or increase in the tumour size. However, there was a massive regrowth in the patient with chondrosarcoma after 6 months. This technique provided a wide surgical exposure with direct visualization of the tumour-anterior cord interface, early proximal control of the VA and preservation of lower cranial nerves. (+info)
Cerebral angioplasty and stenting for intracranial vertebral atherosclerotic stenosis.
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A 72-year-old man underwent cerebral angioplasty and stenting for a high-grade eccentric atherosclerotic stenosis (93%) of the right intracranial vertebral artery. The lesion was sufficiently and smoothly dilated very easily with the use of a highly flexible, balloon-expandable coronary stent. No complications occurred during or after the procedure. This therapeutic option may prove to be a safe and useful means to resolve an intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis. (+info)
High-resolution MR cisternography of the cerebellopontine angle: 2D versus 3D fast spin-echo sequences.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The clinical usefulness of MR cisternography of the cerebellopontine angle, applying 2D or 3D fast spin-echo sequences, has been reported recently. Our purpose was to investigate the cause of signal loss in CSF in the prepontine or cerebellopontine angle cistern on 2D FSE MR images and to compare the cisternographic effects of 2D and 3D FSE sequences. METHODS: Preliminary experiments were performed in four volunteers to assess the causes of signal loss. Initially, using a 2D cardiac-gated cine phase-contrast method with a velocity encoding value of 6 cm/s, we measured the velocity and flow pattern of CSF. Comparisons were made to assess the effects of intravoxel dephasing, amplitude of the section-selecting gradient, echo time (TE), and section thickness. Four healthy subjects and 13 patients with ear symptoms were examined, and multisection 3-mm-thick 2D images and 30-mm-slab, 1-mm-section 3D images were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. Then, 3D MR cisternography was performed in 400 patients with ear symptoms, and qualitative evaluation was performed. RESULTS: In volunteers, the average peak velocity of CSF was 1.2 cm/s. With TE = 250, CSF may move an average of 3 mm, and can be washed out of a 3-mm-thick 2D section volume. The CSF signal relative to that of a water phantom decreased gradually as TE increased on single-section 3-mm-thick 2D images. The CSF signal relative to that of the water phantom increased gradually as section thickness increased. No significant differences were noted in intravoxel dephasing and amplitude of the section-selecting gradient. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between CSF and the cerebellar peduncle, and the visibility of the cranial nerves and vertebrobasilar artery were significantly improved on 3D images in 17 subjects. In images from 400 patients, no significant signal loss in the cistern was observed using 3D FSE. CONCLUSION: CSF signal loss in thin-section 2D MR cisternography is mainly attributable to the wash-out phenomenon. 3D acquisition can reduce this phenomenon and provide thinner sections. The scan time for 3D acquisition is not excessive when a long echo train length and half-Fourier imaging are used. MR cisternography should be performed using a 3D acquisition. (+info)