Jason A. Ellis

Carotid-cavernous fistulas.

Carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCFs) are vascular shunts allowing blood to flow from the carotid artery into the cavernous sinus. The characteristic clinical features seen in patients with CCFs are the sequelae of hemodynamic dysfunction within the cavernous sinus. Once routinely treated with open surgical procedures, including carotid ligation or trapping and cavernous sinus exploration, endovascular therapy is now the treatment modality of choice in many cases. The authors provide a review of CCFs, detailing the current classification and clinical management of these lesions. Therapeutic options including conservative management, open surgery, endovascular intervention, and radiosurgical therapy are presented. The complications and treatment results as reported in the contemporary literature are also reviewed.

Endovascular treatment strategies for acute ischemic stroke.

The limitations of intravenous thrombolysis therapy have paved the way for the development of novel endovascular technologies for use in the setting of acute stroke. These technologies range from direct intraarterial thrombolysis to various thrombus disruption or retrieval devices to angioplasty and stenting. The tools in the armamentarium of the neuroendovascular interventionalist enable fast, effective revascularization to be offered to a wider population of patients that may otherwise have few therapeutic options available to them. In this paper, we review the current state-of-the-art in neuroendovascular intervention for acute ischemic stroke. Particular emphasis is placed on delineating the indications and outcomes for use of these various technologies.

Pre-operative intracranial meningioma embolization

Pre-operative embolization is a routinely utilized therapeutic adjunct to the resection of hypervascular lesions of the head and neck. In particular, pre-operative cerebral angiography and tumor embolization has become standard practice at many centers in the management of select intracranial meningiomas. However, controversy remains regarding its specific indications and clinical utility. In this article, we examine the principles of meningioma embolization, emphasizing the indications, risks and benefits associated with its use in the pre-operative setting.

Medial lenticulostriate artery aneurysm presenting with isolated intraventricular hemorrhage

Background: Isolated intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) secondary to lenticulostriate artery aneurysm rupture is extremely rare. Thus, the diagnostic imaging modalities and therapeutic interventions utilized in the management of such cases are not clearly defined. Case Description: Here we describe a case of isolated or primary IVH (PIVH) in a 71-year-old woman presenting with severe headache. Emergent catheter cerebral angiography, performed after nondiagnostic computed tomography angiography (CTA), revealed the bleeding source to be a 4 × 2.6 mm distal medial lenticulostriate artery aneurysm that ruptured directly into the lateral ventricle. The poorly accessible location of the aneurysm for both endovascular and direct surgical treatment argued for conservative management. A good clinical outcome was obtained with rapid angiographic resolution of the ruptured aneurysm. Conclusion: Thus, lenticulostriate artery aneurysm rupture must be given diagnostic consideration in cases of isolated IVH. Emergent catheter cerebral angiography should be performed in cases such as this when noninvasive imaging is unrevealing. Conservative management may be a reasonable therapeutic option in patients with this kind of aneurysm, and spontaneous resolution can be observed.

Cerebral hypoperfusion-assisted intra-arterial deposition of liposomes in normal and glioma-bearing rats.

BACKGROUND Optimizing liposomal vehicles for targeted delivery to the brain has important implications for the treatment of brain tumors. The promise of efficient, brain-specific delivery of chemotherapeutic compounds via liposomal vehicles has yet to be achieved in clinical practice. Intra-arterial injection of specially designed liposomes may facilitate efficient delivery to the brain and to gliomas. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that cationic liposomes may be effectively delivered to both normal and glioma-bearing brain tissue utilizing a strategy of intra-arterial injection during transient cerebral hypoperfusion. METHODS Cationic, anionic, and neutral liposomes were separately injected via the internal carotid artery of healthy rats during transient cerebral hypoperfusion. Rats bearing C6 gliomas were similarly injected with cationic liposomes. Liposomes were loaded with DilC18(5) dye whose concentrations can be measured by light absorbance and fluorescence methods. RESULTS After intra-arterial injection, a robust uptake of cationic in comparison with anionic and neutral liposomes into brain parenchyma was observed by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Postmortem multispectral fluorescence imaging revealed that liposomal cationic charge was associated with more efficient delivery to the brain. Cationic liposomes were also readily observed within glioma tissue after intra-arterial injection. However, over time, cationic liposomes were retained longer and at higher concentrations in the surrounding, peritumoral brain than in the tumor core. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates the feasibility of cationic liposome delivery to brain and glioma tissue after intra-arterial injection. Highly cationic liposomes directly delivered to the brain via an intracarotid route may represent an effective method for delivering antiglioma agents.

Staged laser interstitial thermal therapy and topectomy for complete obliteration of complex focal cortical dysplasias

Anatomically complex focal cortical dysplasias may present significant challenges to safe and complete surgical resection via standard operative corridors. Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is an emerging minimally invasive technique that may address some of these challenges, enabling stereotactic ablation of deep and/or surgically inaccessible regions. However, complete ablation may not be feasible in all cases. To address this dilemma, we have designed a protocol utilizing staged LITT followed by topectomy to effect complete obliteration of a complex focal cortical dysplasia. The approach presented demonstrates the feasibility, safety, and clinical utility of combining laser ablation and open surgery for the definitive management of this lesion.

Pitfalls for the Pediatrician: Positional Molding or Craniosynostosis?

Abnormal head morphology is common among infants and often leads parents to ask their pediatricians for guidance. While the vast majority of such children development and prevent adverse neurobehavioral sequelae secondary to increased intracranial pressure or impaired cerebral growth. The coordination of a multidisciplinary team in the setting of a center experienced in the management of craniosynostosis will assure the best possible results for each patient.

Role of embolization for cerebral arteriovenous malformations.

Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are complex high-flow lesions that can result in devastating neurological injury when they hemorrhage. Embolization is a critical component in the management of many patients with cerebral AVMs. Embolization may be used as an independent curative therapy or more commonly in an adjuvant fashion prior to either micro- or radiosurgery. Although the treatment-related morbidity and mortality for AVMs--including that due to microsurgery, embolization, and radiosurgery--can be substantial, its natural history offers little solace. Fortunately, care by a multidisciplinary team experienced in the comprehensive management of AVMs can offer excellent results in most cases.

Cognitive and functional status after vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation endovascular occlusion

AIM To study the clinical outcomes of treating vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations (VGAM), we assessed our patient cohort using standardized cognitive and functional measures. METHODS A retrospective review of patients with VGAM treated by a single practitioner between 2003 and 2009 was performed for this study. In addition to routine clinical assessment, all patients were evaluated for cognitive and functional impairment using validated measures including the Neurobehavioral Rating Scale-Revised, the Bicêtre outcome score, and the Barthel index. RESULTS Five patients underwent combined transarterial and transvenous embolization of their VGAM during the study period. VGAMs were classified based on angioarchitecture as either choroidal (1/5) or mural (4/5) according to the classification scheme of Lasjaunias. In total, 13 embolization procedures were performed consisting of 1 to 3 treatment stages per patient. Complete or near complete occlusion was achieved in 4 patients, while subtotal occlusion was achieved in 1 patient. During follow-up (median 62.6 mo), all patients were either unchanged or cognitively and neurologically intact. CONCLUSION VGAM can be safely and effectively treated by staged transarterial and transvenous embolization. Using this strategy, excellent long-term cognitive and functional outcomes can be achieved.

Intraarterial drug delivery for glioblastoma mutiforme

Intraarterial (IA) drug delivery is a physiologically appealing strategy as drugs are widely distributed throughout the tumor capillary network and high regional tissue concentrations can be achieved with low total doses. IA treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has been attempted since the 1950s but success has been elusive. Although IA treatments have been embraced for the treatment of retinoblastoma and advanced liver cancers, this has not been the case for GBM. The development of IA drug delivery for the treatment of brain cancer over the last several decades reveals a number of critical oversights. For example, very few studies took into consideration the underlying hydrodynamic factors. Therapeutic failures were often blamed on an inability to penetrate the blood brain barrier or on the streaming of drugs. Similarly, there were few methods to investigate the ultra-fast pharmacokinetics of IA drugs. Despite past failures, clinical interest in IA drugs for the treatment of GBM persists. The advent of modern imaging methods along with a better understanding of hydrodynamics factors, better appreciation of the complex morphology of GBM, improved drug selection and formulations, and development of methods to minimize treatment-related neurological injury, promise to considerably advance the application of IA drugs for GBM treatment. There are several clinical trials with IA treatments in the National Trial Registry that are actively recruiting patients. This review of IA drug delivery for GBM treatment is therefore timely and is intended to assess how this method of drug delivery could be better applied to future treatments.