Brain and nerve = Shinkei kenkyū no shinpo
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In this study, we reviewed the findings of diagnostic imaging of cerebral vascular anomalies classified as cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM)/hemangioma, developmental venous anomalies (DVAs)/venous malformation (VM), and capillary telangiectasia. In addition, we described the imaging findings of cavernous sinus hemangioma and orbital hemangioma/vascular anomaly. CCM has 2 forms: a sporadic form characterized by isolated lesions and a familial form characterized by multiple lesions with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. ⋯ SWI has improved the diagnosis of microbleeds, brain tumor, cerebrovascular disease, degenerative disease, etc. SWI is superior to GRE T2*-weighted imaging for determining hemosiderin, methohemoglobin, and deoxyhemoglobin contents. The sensitivity of SWI for determining the number of CCM lesions is significantly higher than that of GRE T2*-weighted imaging.
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Cavernous malformations (CMs) consist of dilated vascular channels that have a characteristic appearance on MRI. They can present with seizures, neurological deficits due to lesion hemorrhage, or as incidental findings on neuroradiological studies. Treatment options include conservative therapy; medical management of seizures; surgical intervention; and in selected cases, stereotactic radiosurgery. ⋯ We reviewed previously published papers on CMs with respect to hemorrhage rates, seizure control, and radiation-induced morbidity in order to better understand the balance of benefits and risks associated with the radiosurgical treatment for CMs. The data in this review provides convincing evidence that stereotactic radiosurgery is a relatively safe procedure with acceptable risks of morbidity and that its use could reduce the rebleeding rate and the frequency of seizures caused by for CMs located in the high-surgical-risk regions of the brain. We also present our experience of treating for 16 patients with CMs and show that our results were comparable to those previously reported.