Suraj Mammen

Neurological complications in carotid body tumors: A 6-year single-center experience

OBJECTIVE Carotid body tumors are considered rare. However, there has been an increase in the number of these tumors managed at our center in recent years. Delayed presentation with large tumors is common. We studied the clinical profile, interventions, and outcomes of these tumors and assessed the factors influencing operative neurological morbidity and recurrence. METHODS This retrospective study was conducted at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, a tertiary care center in south India. We analyzed the inpatient and outpatient records of patients diagnosed to have carotid body tumors undergoing excision from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011. Patients diagnosed to have vagal paragangliomas were excluded. RESULTS Thirty-four of 48 tumors were excised from 32 patients (11 female, 21 male). Average age at presentation was 38.2 years, and three patients had familial bilateral tumors. All patients presented with a painless neck mass. There were 27 Shamblin group III, six Shamblin group II, and one Shamblin group I tumor. Eleven Shamblin group II/III tumors were associated with transient cranial nerve palsy or paresis (32.3%). Two Shamblin group III tumors were associated with perioperative stroke (5.8%). Preoperative embolization was done in 17 tumors, 12 of which were associated with neurological complications (two stroke, nine nerve palsy, one hemianopia). One patient underwent thrombolysis for a middle cerebral artery thrombus and recovered completely on follow-up, and another with a capsuloganglionic infarct managed conservatively had minimal persistent disability. Three patients had persistent nerve palsy (8.8%). Although complications were more common in patients with higher Shamblin group tumors, the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The overall rate of neurological complications is higher with tumors of higher Shamblin groups. Preoperative embolization was not effective in reducing neurological complications. The rates of postoperative stroke and permanent cranial nerve palsy after resection of large tumors are acceptable.

Endovascular management of carotid-cavernous fistula in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome Type IV

The overwhelming majority of intracranial and intraspinal cavernomas are intraparenchymal, with just a small fraction found in the epidural space. Extra-axial cavernomas are rare and are generally located in the cisternal space, arising from the dural surface or cranial nerves.[6] The majority of these are found in the dural sinuses or the cerebellopontine angle and only 29 cases of spinal intradural extramedullary cavernomas have been reported in the literature.[7,8] Of these, only five cases have been reported at the cervical level. Only one case of extramedullary foramen magnum cavernoma has been reported in the literature till date.

Role of penumbra mechanical thrombectomy device in acute dural sinus thrombosis

Background: In dural venous sinus thrombosis (DVST), the mortality ranges 5–30%. Deep venous system involvement and septic dural sinus thrombosis have a higher mortality rate. In acute occlusion, collateral flow may not be established, which may result in significant edema and mass effect. Endovascular interventions may be considered as a treatment option in appropriate high-risk patients with DVST. Materials and Methods: Eight patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-confirmed dural sinus thrombosis, who did not respond to the conventional standard medical treatment, were subsequently treated with mechanical thrombectomy using the Penumbra System®. In all cases, medical treatment including anticoagulants were continued following the procedure for a minimum period of 1 year. Results: Recanalization of the dural sinus thrombosis was achieved in all 8 cases. There were no immediate or late endovascular-related complications. One death occurred due to an unrelated medical event. At 6 months, there was notable improvement in the modified Rankin Score (mRS), with 5/8 (62%) patients achieving mRS of 2 or less. The follow-up ranged between 3 months and 26 months (mean: 14.5 months), and there were no new neurological events during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is a rare but life-threatening condition that demands timely diagnosis and therapy. In cases of rapidly declining neurological status despite standard therapy with systemic anticoagulation and anti-edema measures, mechanical thrombectomy could be a lifesaving and effective option. In this study, good outcomes were observed in the majority of patients at long-term follow up.

Outcomes of catheter-directed treatment of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis of patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital

Background: Lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common illness with an annual incidence of 1 per 1000 adults. The major long-term complication of DVT is post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) which occurs in up to 60% of patients within 2 years of an episode of DVT. Aims: We aim to evaluate the outcomes of catheter-directed treatment (CDT) for symptomatic acute or subacute lower extremity DVT. Materials and Methods: A retrospective 12-year study was conducted on the outcomes of CDT on 54 consecutive patients who presented with acute or subacute lower extremity DVT to our hospital. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive summary statistics and the Chi-square test were used to measure the outcomes of CDT. Results: Grade 3 thrombolysis was achieved in 25 (46.3%) patients, grade 2 thrombolysis in 25 (46.3%) patients, and grade 1 thrombolysis in 4 (7.4%) patients. Significant recanalization (grade 2 or 3 thrombolysis) was possible in 50 (92.6%) patients. There was no statistically significant difference in the percentage of significant recanalization that could be achieved between patients who underwent CDT before and after 10 days. There was no significant difference between the thrombolysis achieved between urokinase and r-tPA. PTS was seen in 33% of the patients. Major complications were seen in 5.5% of the patients. Conclusion: CDT is a safe and effective therapeutic technique in patients with acute and subacute lower extremity DVT, if appropriate patient selection is made.

Role of endovascular embolization in treatment of acute bleeding complications in haemophilia patients.

OBJECTIVE: Bleeding complications either spontaneously or post-operatively are very common in patients with haemophilia. Sometimes these bleeding complications remain unresponsive despite being on high dose of clotting factor replacement. The aim was to assess the role of endovascular embolization in patients with haemophilia in (a) treating haemorrhagic complications due to local causes refractory to clotting factors substitution and (b) reducing intraoperative blood loss in elective pseudotumour surgery. METHODS: 10 patients seen between January 2000 and April 2015 with severe haemophilia A or B who had unexplained profuse persistent bleeding or required large pseudotumour excision and were taken up for digital subtraction angiography and embolization were included in the study. Data of all these patients were reviewed using the computerized hospital information system and picture archiving and communication system. Details including indications for the procedure, patient preparation for the procedure, imaging findings, details of angiography with intervention, if any, and outcome as well as follow-up data were analyzed. RESULTS: In 6 of these 10 cases, bleeding was spontaneous, in 2 cases due to trivial fall and in 2 cases due to post-operative bleeding. Angiography in these patients revealed vascular blush, abnormal hypervascularity or active extravasation. In all 10 patients, an embolization procedure was performed, with bleeding controlled in 8 patients. There were no procedure-related complications during the procedure, post-procedure bleeding or haematoma at the site of arterial access. One patient had recurrence of bleeding for whom surgical exploration was required, and one patient had significant bleeding intraoperatively which was controlled with high-dose clotting factors, blood transfusion and fresh frozen plasma intraoperatively. CONCLUSION: Endovascular embolization is a safe, effective and cost-saving procedure in arresting bleeding in selected patients with severe haemophilia who are unresponsive to adequate clotting factor replacement and where local vascular causes could be contributing to the bleeding. Pre-operative embolization is also a good procedure to reduce intraoperative blood loss in patients with large pseudotumours. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: Angiography and embolization in patients with haemophilia is technically challenging and should be performed by highly skilled interventional radiologists, which limits its wider use and familiarity among multidisciplinary teams managing haemophilia. By bringing the knowledge of this effective treatment to the specialist groups who care for patients with haemophilia, its wider application may be possible which can save life and/or reduce morbidity.

Acute Portal Vein Thrombosis, No Longer a Contraindication for Transjugular Intrahepatic Porto-Systemic Shunt (TIPS) Insertion.

Portal vein thrombosis, once considered as a contraindication to transjugular intrahepatic porto-systemic shunt (TIPS) is now considered as an indication. We report a case with clinical and technical success in a patient with Budd Chiari syndrome and acute portal venous thrombosis. Though it is a well-established option, with the best of our knowledge, we could not find a report from India.

Endovascular treatment of isolated arterial pulmonary malinosculation

We report the endovascular management of a series of four cases of isolated systemic supply to normal lung or isolated arterial pulmonary malinosculation of the left lung. In these cases, the basal segments of the left lung lacked normal pulmonary arterial supply and instead received systemic arterial blood from the descending thoracic aorta. The relevant anatomy and literature are also reviewed.

Trans-caval trans-jugular liver biopsy—a technical modification of trans-jugular liver biopsy

OBJECTIVE To (a) describe the technical modification of trans-caval TJLB and (b) review our series of nine cases. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of all trans-caval TJLBs performed; we assessed indications for the procedure, technical success, complications, adequacy of specimen and histological positivity. RESULTS The technical success rate of the procedure was 9/9 (100%); the minor complication rate was 1/9 (11%), adequate specimen was obtained in all cases and a histological diagnosis was achieved in 8/9 (89%) cases. CONCLUSION This preliminary report suggests that trans-caval modification of TJLB is a relatively safe procedure that may be useful in cases where conventional TJLB is infeasible. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE (a) We describe the technique of trans-caval TJLBs and report our findings in the largest series of published cases. (b) Trans-caval TJLB is relatively safe and can be used to increase the success rates of conventional TJLB.

Percutaneous placement of a biliary plastic stent

Endoscopic biliary plastic stent placement is a well-established technique for unresectable and recurrent biliary obstructive disease and provides significant improvement in the quality of life. We describe a new technique of percutaneous placement of biliary plastic stent that has not been previously mentioned in the literature.

Radiofrequency ablation of osteoid osteoma in common and technically challenging locations in pediatric population

Context: Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of osteoid osteoma has a high technical and clinical success rate. However, there is limited data on its use in the pediatric population, especially in technically challenging locations. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of CT-guided percutaneous RFA of osteoid osteoma in pediatric population. Subjects and Methods: From June 2009 to May 2014, thirty patients with osteoid osteoma were treated with CT-guided RFA in common (25 cases) and technically challenging (five cases: four near articular surface and one in sacrum) locations. Therapy was performed under general anesthesia with a three-array expandable RF probe for 6 min at 90°C and power of 60–100 W. The patients were discharged next day under instruction. The treatment success was evaluated in terms of pain relief before and after (1 day, 1 month, and 6 months) treatment. Results: Technical success was achieved in all patients (100%). Primary clinical success was 96.66% (29 of total 30 patients) despite the pediatric population and atypical location. One patient had persistent pain after 1 month duration and were treated successfully with a second procedure (secondary success rate was 100%). One patient had immediate complication of weakness of right hand and fingers extension. No delayed complications were observed. Conclusions: CT-guided RFA is relatively safe and highly effective for treatment of osteoid osteoma in pediatric population, even in technically difficult locations. Advance in Knowledge: Our study showed that if technical success is 100% and if strict desired temperature (90°C) can be maintained for desired time (6 min) using controlled power (wattage) delivery (60–100 W), then high clinical success can be achieved even in pediatric population similar to adult population.