Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Nov 1981
Osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption in the posterior fossa of the dog.
Transient reversible osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption was produced in the posterior fossa of 33 dogs. A percutaneous catheter technique was used for the infusion of hypertonic mannitol into the vertebral artery. Neither the catheter technique nor the osmotic barrier modification resulted in interference with brain-stem function in most animals. ⋯ Methotrexate delivered to the brain via the vertebral artery resulted in a drug concentration of 100 to 300 ng/gm brain tissue. When the same amount of drug was given following osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption, brain tissue contained 1100 to 5000 ng of methotrexate/gm of brain tissue. Finally, the adequacy of the blood-brain barrier modification in the posterior fossa was shown to be quantifiable by the amount of enhancement on computerized tomographic scans.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Nov 1981
Anastomosis between internal carotid artery and anterior cerebral artery with other anomalies of the circle of Willis in a fetal brain.
A rare vascular anomaly was found in a 21-week-old fetal brain. It consisted of an anastomotic loop between the internal carotid artery and the anterior cerebral artery. ⋯ Anomalies and variations of the circle of Willis are probably genetically determined and develop at an early embryonic stage. They are frequently found in association with other cerebrovascular diseases, such as aneurysms.