Objective: To explore the diagnosis and clinical features of internal carotid artery aneurysm in the skull base. Methods: The data of 15 patients with internal carotid aneurysms in the skull base diagnosed and treated by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) or CT angiography (CTA) in the Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University from 1995 to 2017 were collected and analyzed. Among the 15 patients, 12 were males, and 3 were females, aging from 17 to 67 years old, with a median age of 44 years. Thirteen patients were diagnosed by DSA; the other two patients were diagnosed by CTA. Thirteen patients were diagnosed with pseudoaneurysm with the first symptom of epistaxis, in which eight patients underwent head trauma and 5 underwent radiotherapy of skull base tumor. The other two patients were diagnosed with true aneurysm presented headache and cranial nerve disorder. All patients were followed up for 2 to 12 years after treatment to see whether they were cured and survived. Results: Among the eight patients with a history of trauma, five patients were cured by embolization, two patients without embolization died of massive epistaxis, one patient died of progressive cerebral infarction after embolization. Among the five patients with radiotherapy of skull base tumor, one patient died of cerebral infarction after embolization, two patients died out of the hospital due to the recurrence of the primary tumor and intracranial invasion, one patient recovered well after embolization and surgical operation, one patient gave up treatment and died of massive hemorrhage out of hospital. In the other two patients with symptom of headache, one received embolization treatment outside the hospital after receiving mistake operation, and another one gave up treatment and died due to personal reasons. In total, four patients died in hospital, four died out of the hospital, and seven patients survived. Conclusions: Internal carotid artery aneurysm is a high-risk disease of anterior and middle skull base. For patients with epistaxis with a history of trauma and radiotherapy or patients with headaches and cranial nerve disorders, the possibility of the internal carotid artery aneurysm should be considered, in which DSA or CTA examination is essentially required for ensured diagnosis and disease evaluation.. The correct diagnosis and treatment by the otolaryngologist are crucial to the prognosis of the patient.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Carotid Artery, Internal/diagnostic imaging* ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm/therapy* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Retrospective Studies ; Skull Base/diagnostic imaging* ; Young Adult

Studies have shown that chronic inflammatory response plays a key role in intracranial aneurysms (IA) formation and progression, and macrophages regulate the formation and progression of IA through a variety of pathways. Bone marrow monocyte-derived macrophages and resident-tissue macrophages infiltrate the vessel wall, after infiltration macrophages are polarized into various polarization phenotypes dominated by M1-like and M2-like cells. Polarized phenotypes of macrophages can regulate the formation and progression of intracranial aneurysms by releasing cytokines and regulating the inflammatory response of other immune cells, as well as release different cytokines to regulate the process of extracellular matrix remodeling. Some important progresses have been made in the clinical detection and treatment in targeting macrophages. This review provides a summary on the pathogenesis of IA and potential drug targets to prevent the formation and rupture of intracranial aneurysms.
Cytokines ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Macrophages ; metabolism

BACKGROUND: An incidental finding of unruptured aneurysm, which is a contraindication to the recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA), is common in patients with acute ischemic strokes. However, reports describing the rupture of intracranial aneurysm following the administration of rtPA are extremely rare. CASE REPORT: A 51-year-old man presented to the emergency room with global aphasia. A computed tomography (CT) of the brain revealed no intracranial hemorrhage. Since global aphasia occurred in an hour, rtPA was administrated intravenously. A CT angiography was performed 2 hours after an infusion of rtPA, which despite the absence of neurological deterioration and blood pressure surge, revealed subarachnoid hemorrhage in the right cerebral hemisphere, in addition to a 3-mm saccular aneurysm with a bleb in the right middle cerebral artery. CONCLUSIONS: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage can develop following the infusion of rtPA. Hence, unruptured aneurysm may not simply be an “incidental finding” in stroke patients receiving rtPA.
Aneurysm ; Angiography ; Aphasia ; Blister ; Blood Pressure ; Brain ; Cerebral Infarction ; Cerebrum ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans ; Incidental Findings ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Intracranial Hemorrhages ; Middle Aged ; Middle Cerebral Artery ; Rupture ; Stroke ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Thrombolytic Therapy ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator

OBJECTIVETo investigate the endovascular treatments for the ruptured aneurysms located at anterior communicating artery complex (ACoAC).

METHODSThe data of patients with ruptured ACoAC aneurysms treated in Department of Neurosurgery, First Affiliated Hospital to Fourth Military Medical University from May 2013 to December 2014 was retrospectively analyzed. Sixty-six cases were recruited including 50 male and 16 female patients. The patients aged from 31 to 69 years old, averaging (51±8) years. The Hunt-Hess grade at admission were 13 cases with grade Ⅰ, 36 cases with grade Ⅱ, 11 cases with grade Ⅲ, and 6 cases with grade Ⅳ. The most diameter of aneurysms sac: 14 cases less than or equal to 3 mm, 36 cases more than 3 mm but less than or equal to 7 mm, and 16 cases more than 7 mm. The height diameter/neck width ratio: 8 cases with absolute wide neck, 50 cases with relatively wide neck, and 8 cases with narrow neck. There were 28 cases underwent single micro-catheter embolization, 18 cases underwent double micro-catheters embolization, 14 cases underwent stent-assisted embolization and 6 cases underwent balloon-assisted embolization. The patients were followed up for 6 to 12 months and evaluated by modified Rankin score (mRS) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The ratio of total embolization, recurrence rate, and time from operation to reexamination of four groups managed by different endovascular treatment were compared by χ(2) test or F test.

RESULTSSixty cases were totally embolized, 3 cases subtotally embolized, 3 cases incompletely embolized. Mild hemiparalysis and aphasia occurred in 2 cases, and 1 case died of infarction induced by subarachnoid haemorrhage. The mRS at six months after operation were 0 in 31 cases, 1 in 22 cases, 2 in 8 cases, 3 in 2 cases, 4 in 2 cases, 6 in 1 case. All the included cases reexamined the DSA at averaging (7.5±1.0) month post-operatively and 4 cases recurred. There were not significant differences of the ratio of total embolization, recurrence rate, time from operation to reexamination among four groups (all P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe endovascular treatment maybe an ideal management for ruptured ACoAC aneurysms.

Adult ; Aged ; Aneurysm, Ruptured ; therapy ; Catheters ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents ; Treatment Outcome

In recent two years, new reports about concepts, technologies, materials, and especially new clinical trial results for endovascular treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, has provided tremendous promise for further progress. Mechanical thrombectomy becomes a guideline-recommended therapy for acute ischemic stroke patients with large vessel occlusion, which is considered as a landmark event. The superiority of endovascular coiling over neurosurgical clipping has been further proved for intracranial aneurysm. New devices are constantly developing for aneurysm occlusion. For brain arteriovenous malformation, application of detachable-tip microcatheters improves safety of embolization procedure, and successful transvenous embolization has been also achieved in a few cases. Long-term result of carotid stenting for symptomatic patients has been proved to be noninferior to carotid endarterectomy. Meanwhile, some new trials only obtain negative results, for example, endovascular stenting for intracranial or vertebral artery stenosis both show worse outcomes compared with medical therapy alone. More advancements and investigations are needed.
Embolization, Therapeutic ; instrumentation ; Endarterectomy, Carotid ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; therapy ; Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations ; therapy ; Stents ; Stroke ; therapy ; Thrombectomy ; Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency ; therapy

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome is a rare congenital mesodermal abnormality characterized by varicose veins, cutaneous hemangiomas, soft tissue and bony hypertrophy of limb. Potential complications such as deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism have not been reported in Korea to date. We demonstrate the case of a 48-year-old woman with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome with extensive varicose veins on right lower limb, hypertrophy of left big toe and basilar artery tip aneurysm, complicated with acute submassive pulmonary thromboembolism treated successfully with intravenous thrombolytic therapy.
Aneurysm ; Basilar Artery ; Extremities ; Female ; Heart Failure ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome* ; Korea ; Lower Extremity ; Mesoderm ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Embolism* ; Thrombolytic Therapy* ; Toes ; Varicose Veins ; Venous Thromboembolism ; Venous Thrombosis

OBJECTIVE: Described herein is a microcatheter looping technique to facilitate aneurysm selection in paraclinoid aneurysms, which remains to be technically challenging due to the inherent complexity of regional anatomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board, and informed consent was waived. Microcatheter looping method was employed in 59 patients with paraclinoid aneurysms between January 2012 and December 2013. In the described technique, construction of a microcatheter loop, which is steam-shaped or pre-shaped, based on the direction of aneurysms, is mandatory. The looped tip of microcatheter was advanced into distal internal carotid artery and positioned atop the target aneurysm. By steering the loop (via inner microguidewire) into the dome of aneurysm and easing tension on the microcatheter, the aneurysm was selected. Clinical and morphologic outcomes were assessed with emphasis on technical aspects of the treatment. RESULTS: Through this looping technique, a total of 59 paraclinoid aneurysms were successfully treated. After aneurysm selection as described, single microcatheter technique (n = 25) was most commonly used to facilitate coiling, followed by balloon protection (n = 21), stent protection (n = 7), multiple microcatheters (n = 3), and stent/balloon combination (n = 3). Satisfactory aneurysmal occlusion was achieved through coil embolization in 44 lesions (74.6%). During follow-up of 53 patients (mean interval, 10.9 +/- 5.9 months), only one instance (1.9%) of major recanalization was observed. There were no complications related to microcatheter looping. CONCLUSION: This microcatheter looping method facilitates safe and effective positioning of microcatheter into domes of paraclinoid aneurysms during coil embolization when other traditional microcatheter selection methods otherwise fail.
Adult ; Carotid Artery, Internal/radiography/*surgery ; Catheterization/methods ; Cerebral Angiography/methods ; Embolization, Therapeutic/*methods ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm/*therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Stents

No abstract available.
Aged ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use ; Carotid Artery Diseases/*complications/diagnosis/therapy ; Cerebral Angiography/methods ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Glucocorticoids/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone/therapeutic use ; Hypopituitarism/diagnosis/*etiology/therapy ; Intracranial Aneurysm/*complications/diagnosis/therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Plasma Substitutes/administration & dosage ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Prednisolone/therapeutic use ; Sella Turcica ; Thyroid Hormones/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDThe endovascular strategy of the huge dissecting aneurysms involving the basilar artery (BA) is controversial and challenging. This study was to investigate the clinical and angiographic outcomes of the treatment of the huge dissecting aneurysms involving the BA by the internal trapping (IT) technique.

METHODSWe retrospectively studied 15 patients with the huge dissecting aneurysms involving the BA treated by the IT technique between September 2005 and September 2014 in Department of Interventional Neuroradiology of Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Clinical and angiographic data were reviewed and evaluated.

RESULTSAll patients were treated by the IT technique. That meant the dissecting artery and aneurysm segments were completed occlusion. After the procedure, the angiography demonstrated that all the dissecting artery and aneurysm segments were completed occlusion. Follow-up angiography was performed at 3-6 months or 12-18 months after the endovascular treatment (median 8 months), 14 patients had a good recovery. Re-canalization occurred in one patient whose aneurysm involved in bilateral vertebral arteries and the two third of the middle-lower BA. After the second treatment, the patient died by the ventricular tachycardia.

CONCLUSIONSThe IT technique is a technically feasible and safe alternative for the treatment of BA dissecting aneurysms, but it is not necessarily the safest or most definitive treatment modality. The ideal treatment of the huge dissecting aneurysms involving the BA remains debatable and must be investigated on a case-by-case basis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aneurysm, Dissecting ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Basilar Artery ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: The dual microcatheter technique is common practice for coil embolization of a wide-necked aneurysm, due to safety and efficacy. However, technical limitations of some complex configurations may necessitate additional microcatheters to bolster coil stability, compact the coil, or for protection. Described herein is a triple microcatheter technique for endovascular management of wide-necked intracranial aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data accruing prospectively between January 2006 and October 2014 on simultaneously executed triple microcatheter coil embolization procedures done in 38 saccular aneurysms were reviewed. Clinical and morphological outcomes were assessed, with emphasis on technical aspects of treatment. RESULTS: The triple microcatheter technique was successfully applied to all 38 saccular aneurysms, involving the posterior communicating artery (n = 13), the middle cerebral artery (n = 10), the basilar tip (n = 7), the anterior cerebral artery (n = 5), and the internal carotid artery (n = 3). Stent protection was added in four patients and balloon remodeling in one. Dual microcatheters (n = 24) were usually deployed to deliver the coil within sacs of aneurysms, with the additional microcatheter used for protection. Otherwise, triple microcatheters were deployed for coil delivery (n = 11) or coils were delivered via a single microcatheter, with dual microcatheters deployed for protection (n = 3). Successful occlusion of aneurysms was achieved in 89.5% of cases, with no procedure-related morbidity or mortality. Stable occlusion was maintained in 72.2% (26/36) of the aneurysms at the final follow-up (mean interval, 30.2 +/- 22.7 months). CONCLUSION: The outcomes of this limited study suggest that the triple microcatheter technique may be an effective and safe therapeutic option for wide-necked aneurysms, using technical strategies tailored to complex angio-anatomic configurations.
Aged ; Angiography ; Carotid Arteries/radiography ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm/*therapy ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; *Stents