No abstract

Endovascular recanalization using an embolic protection device can be considered as an alternative treatment for symptomatic ICA occlusion with hemodynamic compromise or refractoriness to antiplatelet therapy, even in the subacute to chronic stage of the illness.

Silicone models of cerebral aneurysms are used for evaluation of devices, training, or hemodynamic studies. We report preoperative simulations of endovascular treatment for a case with an unruptured wide-neck aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery using a patient-specific silicone model. Using a rapid prototyping system, we created a silicone model based on the vascular image obtained by three-dimensional rotational angiogram. The aneurysm and vessels formed a cavity in the silicone block model. We performed endovascular simulations using several difference devices and attempted possible methods for coil embolization. We designed treatment strategies based on the simulations and performed balloon-assisted coil embolization of the aneurysm. The simulations were especially useful in navigation of a microcatheter by planning the shape of its tip beforehand. There was one significant difference between the silicone model simulations and actual treatment: the shape of the vessel in the silicone block model was not changed by insertion of a catheter or guidewire. This is the first study to describe preoperative endovascular simulations using a patient-specific silicone model. Our methods of creating a patient-specific model are relatively simple and easy. Although this is a single case, we demonstrate that the simulations are feasible and helpful for designing a treatment strategy and safe manipulation of endovascular devices by experiencing their behavior before actual treatment.

Object The authors previously reported a case of complex arteriovenous fistula (AVF) at C-1 with multiple dural and spinal feeders that were linked with a common medullary venous channel. The purpose of the present study was to collect similar cases and analyze their angioarchitecture to gain a better understanding of this malformation. Methods Three such cases, affecting 2 males and 1 female in their 60s who had presented with hematomyelia (2) or progressive myelopathy (1), were treated surgically, and the operative findings from all 3 cases were compared using digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to determine the angioarchitecture. Results The C-1 and C-2 radicular arteries and anterior and posterior spinal arteries supplied feeders to a single medullary draining vein in various combinations and via various routes. The drainage veins ran along the affected ventral nerve roots and lay ventral to the spinal cord. The sites of shunting to the vein were multiple: dural, along the ventral nerve root in the subarachnoid space, and on the spinal cord, showing a vascular structure typical of dural AVF, that is, a direct arteriovenous shunt near the spinal root sleeve fed by one or more dural arteries and ending in a single draining vein, except for intradural shunts fed by feeders from the spinal arteries. In 2 cases with hemorrhagic onset the drainer flowed rostrally, and in 1 case associated with congestive myelopathy the drainer flowed both rostrally and caudally. Preoperative determination of the shunt sites and feeding arteries was difficult because of complex recruitment of the feeders and multiple shunt sites. The angioarchitecture in these cases was clarified postoperatively by meticulous comparison of the DSA images and operative video. Direct surgical intervention led to a favorable outcome in all 3 cases. Conclusions A high cervical complex AVF has unique angioarchitectural characteristics different from those seen in the other spinal regions.