Intra-arterial Onyx Embolization of Vertebral Body Lesions

While Onyx embolization of cerebrospinal arteriovenous shunts is well-established, clinical researchers continue to broaden applications to other vascular lesions of the neuraxis. This report illustrates the application of Onyx (eV3, Plymouth, MN) embolization to vertebral body lesions, specifically, a vertebral hemangioma and renal cell carcinoma vertebral body metastatic lesion

Tentorial Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas as a Cause of Thalamic Edema: 2 Cases of an Important Differential Diagnosis to Consider.

The differential diagnosis for bilateral thalamic edema is extensive and includes vascular, neoplastic, metabolic, and infectious causes. Of the vascular causes of thalamic edema, arterial and venous infarctions are well-documented, but dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) are a relatively uncommon and widely underrecognized cause of thalamic edema. Dural AVFs are notoriously difficult to diagnose clinically, especially in the absence of hemorrhage, and cross-sectional imaging findings can be subtle. This can result in a delayed diagnosis, and occasionally, an invasive biopsy for further clarification of a purely vascular disease. In this review, we detail our experience with the imaging diagnosis of dAVF as a cause of thalamic edema and present a short differential of other vascular causes

Migration Phenotype of Brain-Cancer Cells Predicts Patient Outcomes

SummaryGlioblastoma multiforme is a heterogeneous and infiltrative cancer with dismal prognosis. Studying the migratory behavior of tumor-derived cell populations can be informative, but it places a high premium on the precision of in vitro methods and the relevance of in vivo conditions. In particular, the analysis of 2D cell migration may not reflect invasion into 3D extracellular matrices in vivo. Here, we describe a method that allows time-resolved studies of primary cell migration with single-cell resolution on a fibrillar surface that closely mimics in vivo 3D migration. We used this platform to screen 14 patient-derived glioblastoma samples. We observed that the migratory phenotype of a subset of cells in response to platelet-derived growth factor was highly predictive of tumor location and recurrence in the clinic. Therefore, migratory phenotypic classifiers analyzed at the single-cell level in a patient-specific way can provide high diagnostic and prognostic value for invasive cancers

Arterial spin labeling as an ancillary assessment to postoperative conventional angiogram in pediatric moyamoya disease.

OBJECTIVE: Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is commonly performed after pial synangiosis surgery for pediatric moyamoya disease to assess the degree of neovascularization. However, angiography is invasive, and the risk of ionizing radiation is a concern in children. In this study, the authors aimed to identify whether arterial spin labeling (ASL) can predict postoperative angiogram grading. In addition, they sought to determine whether patients who underwent ASL imaging without DSA had similar postoperative outcomes when compared with patients who received ASL imaging and postoperative DSA. METHODS: The medical records of pediatric patients who underwent pial synangiosis for moyamoya disease at a quaternary children\u27s hospital were reviewed during a 10-year period. ASL-only and ASL+DSA cohorts were analyzed. The frequency of preoperative and postoperative symptoms was analyzed within each cohort. Three neuroradiologists assigned a visual ASL grade for each patient indicating the change from the preoperative to postoperative ASL perfusion sequences. A postoperative neovascularization grade was also assigned for patients who underwent DSA. RESULTS: Overall, 21 hemispheres of 14 patients with ASL only and 14 hemispheres of 8 patients with ASL+DSA were analyzed. The groups had similar rates of MRI evidence of acute or chronic stroke preoperatively (61.9% in the ASL-only group and 64.3% in the ASL+DSA group). In the entire cohort, transient ischemic attack (TIA) (p = 0.027), TIA composite (TIA or unexplained neurological symptoms; p = 0.0006), chronic headaches (p = 0.035), aphasia (p = 0.019), and weakness (p = 0.001) all had decreased frequency after intervention. The authors found a positive association between revascularization observed on DSA and the visual ASL grading (p = 0.048). The visual ASL grades in patients with an angiogram indicating robust neovascularization demonstrated improved perfusion when compared with the ASL grades of patients with a poor neovascularization. CONCLUSIONS: Noninvasive ASL perfusion imaging had an association with postoperative DSA neoangiogenesis following pial synangiosis surgery in children. There were no significant postoperative stroke differences between the ASL-only and ASL+DSA cohorts. Both cohorts demonstrated significant improvement in preoperative symptoms after surgery. Further study in larger cohorts is necessary to determine whether the results of this study are validated in order to circumvent the invasive catheter angiogram

Arterial spin labeling as an ancillary assessment to postoperative conventional angiogram in pediatric moyamoya disease.

OBJECTIVE: Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is commonly performed after pial synangiosis surgery for pediatric moyamoya disease to assess the degree of neovascularization. However, angiography is invasive, and the risk of ionizing radiation is a concern in children. In this study, the authors aimed to identify whether arterial spin labeling (ASL) can predict postoperative angiogram grading. In addition, they sought to determine whether patients who underwent ASL imaging without DSA had similar postoperative outcomes when compared with patients who received ASL imaging and postoperative DSA. METHODS: The medical records of pediatric patients who underwent pial synangiosis for moyamoya disease at a quaternary children\u27s hospital were reviewed during a 10-year period. ASL-only and ASL+DSA cohorts were analyzed. The frequency of preoperative and postoperative symptoms was analyzed within each cohort. Three neuroradiologists assigned a visual ASL grade for each patient indicating the change from the preoperative to postoperative ASL perfusion sequences. A postoperative neovascularization grade was also assigned for patients who underwent DSA. RESULTS: Overall, 21 hemispheres of 14 patients with ASL only and 14 hemispheres of 8 patients with ASL+DSA were analyzed. The groups had similar rates of MRI evidence of acute or chronic stroke preoperatively (61.9% in the ASL-only group and 64.3% in the ASL+DSA group). In the entire cohort, transient ischemic attack (TIA) (p = 0.027), TIA composite (TIA or unexplained neurological symptoms; p = 0.0006), chronic headaches (p = 0.035), aphasia (p = 0.019), and weakness (p = 0.001) all had decreased frequency after intervention. The authors found a positive association between revascularization observed on DSA and the visual ASL grading (p = 0.048). The visual ASL grades in patients with an angiogram indicating robust neovascularization demonstrated improved perfusion when compared with the ASL grades of patients with a poor neovascularization. CONCLUSIONS: Noninvasive ASL perfusion imaging had an association with postoperative DSA neoangiogenesis following pial synangiosis surgery in children. There were no significant postoperative stroke differences between the ASL-only and ASL+DSA cohorts. Both cohorts demonstrated significant improvement in preoperative symptoms after surgery. Further study in larger cohorts is necessary to determine whether the results of this study are validated in order to circumvent the invasive catheter angiogram

Transcranial Optical Monitoring of Cerebral Hemodynamics in Acute Stroke Patients during Mechanical Thrombectomy

Introduction: Mechanical thrombectomy is revolutionizing treatment of acute stroke due to large vessel occlusion (LVO). Unfortunately, use of the modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score (mTICI) to characterize recanalization of the cerebral vasculature does not address microvascular perfusion of the distal parenchyma, nor provide more than a vascular "snapshot." Thus, little is known about tissue-level hemodynamic consequences of LVO recanalization. Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) and diffuse optical spectroscopy (DOS) are promising methods for continuous, noninvasive, contrast-free transcranial monitoring of cerebral microvasculature. Methods: Here, we use a combined DCS/DOS system to monitor frontal lobe hemodynamic changes during endovascular treatment of 2 patients with ischemic stroke due to internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusions. Results and Discussion: The monitoring instrument identified a recanalization-induced increase in ipsilateral cerebral blood flow (CBF) with little or no concurrent change in contralateral CBF and extracerebral blood flow. The results suggest that diffuse optical monitoring is sensitive to intracerebral hemodynamics in patients with ICA occlusion and can measure microvascular responses to mechanical thrombectomy28614831494FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2013/07559-3; 2016/13139-5National Institute of Health (NIH)United States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [R01-NS060653, P41-EB015893, 1R01NS082309-01A1]; Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2013/07559-3, 2016/13139-5