Neurosurgery
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Multicenter Study
Endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms using Matrix coils: short- and mid-term results in ruptured and unruptured aneurysms.
A prospective multicenter registry was conducted in France to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Matrix coils (Boston Scientific Neurovascular, Fremont, CA). The short- and mid-term results are presented. ⋯ In-hospital and 1-year morbidity and mortality rates in patients harboring ruptured or unruptured aneurysms treated with Matrix coils were similar to those previously reported with the use of bare coils. The efficacy of Matrix coils to prevent aneurysm recanalization was not demonstrated, despite a high percentage of progressive thrombosis that suggests biological activity resulting from Matrix coils.
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Barbiturate-induced coma can be used in patients to treat intractable intracranial hypertension when other therapies, such as osmotic therapy and sedation, have failed. Despite control of intracranial pressure, cerebral infarction may still occur in some patients, and the effect of barbiturates on outcome remains uncertain. In this study, we examined the relationship between barbiturate infusion and brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2). ⋯ Our preliminary findings suggest that pentobarbital administered for intractable intracranial hypertension is associated with a significant and independent increase in PbtO2 in the majority of patients. However, in some patients with more compromised brain physiology, pentobarbital may have a negative effect on PbtO2, particularly if administered late. Larger studies are needed to examine the relationship between barbiturates and cerebral oxygenation in brain-injured patients with refractory intracranial hypertension and to determine whether PbtO2 responses can help guide therapy.
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Long-term follow-up studies in patients with brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM) have yielded contradictory results regarding both risk factors for rupture and annual rupture rate. We performed a long-term follow-up study in an unselected, consecutive patient population with AVMs admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery at Helsinki University Central Hospital between 1942 and 2005. ⋯ According to this long-term follow-up study, AVMs with previous rupture and large size, as well as with infratentorial and deep locations have the highest risk of subsequent hemorrhage. This risk is highest during the first few years after diagnosis but remains significant for decades.
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The authors describe a case of severe traumatic arterial vasospasm and its subsequent management using angiography and multiple infusions of calcium channel blockers. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of multiple intra-arterial calcium channel blocker infusions for severe posttraumatic vasospasm, as assessed by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, cerebral blood flow monitoring, and angiography. This case reinforces that arterial vasospasm does occur in response to traumatic brain injury and further demonstrates that treatment with calcium channel blocker infusions is associated with angiographic changes and a subsequent reversal of ischemic blood flow.
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Multicenter Study
Lower pretreatment cerebral blood volume affects hemorrhagic risks after intra-arterial revascularization in acute stroke.
Intra-arterial therapies are being used more frequently in patients presenting with acute cerebral occlusions, but they have been limited by the potential for hemorrhage. We sought to determine whether pretreatment computed tomography perfusion parameters might help to identify patients at a higher risk of developing intracranial hemorrhage after intra-arterial stroke revascularization treatment. ⋯ A reduced pretreatment ipsilateral cerebral blood volume value before endovascular revascularization of an acute middle cerebral artery or internal carotid artery occlusion significantly increases the risk of an intracranial hemorrhage.