Interventional neuroradiology (INR) also known as neurointerventional surgery (NIS), endovascular therapy (EVT), endovascular neurosurgery, and interventional neurology is a medical subspecialty of neurosurgery, neuroradiology, intervention radiology and neurology specializing in minimally invasive image-based technologies and procedures used in diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the head, neck, and spine.
Diagnostic angiography
Cerebral angiography was developed by Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz at the University of Lisbon, in order to identify central nervous system diseases such as tumors or arteriovenous malformations. He performed the first brain angiography in Lisbon in 1927 by injecting an iodinated contrast medium into the internal carotid artery and using the X-rays discovered 30 years earlier by Roentgen in order to visualize the cerebral vessels. In pre-CT and pre-MRI, it was the only tool to observe the structures within the skull and was also used to diagnose extravascular pathologies.
Subsequently, European radiologists further developed the angiographic technique by replacing the traumatic direct puncture with catheterization: in 1953, Swedish physician Sven Seldinger introduced the technique of arterial and venous catheterization still in practice, dubbed the Seldinger Technique. In 1964, the Norwegian radiologist Per Amudsen was the first to perform a complete brain angiography with a transfemoral approach, as it is performed today; he then moved to San Francisco to teach the technique to American neuroradiologists. These two stages, at the basis of modern invasive vascular diagnostics, prepared the way for later therapeutic developments.
The first treatments: balloon occlusion
The first to carry out a true endovascular procedure was Charles Dotter, the father of angioplasty and considered by many as the father of all interventional radiology, as well as the first doctor to have performed endovascular treatment. On January 16, 1964, he performed a therapeutic angioplasty of a superficial femoral artery in an 82-year-old woman with an ischemic leg refusing amputation.
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Embolization refers to the passage and lodging of an embolus within the bloodstream. It may be of natural origin (pathological), in which sense it is also called embolism, for example a pulmonary embolism; or it may be artificially induced (therapeutic), as a hemostatic treatment for bleeding or as a treatment for some types of cancer by deliberately blocking blood vessels to starve the tumor cells. In the cancer management application, the embolus, besides blocking the blood supply to the tumor, also often includes an ingredient to attack the tumor chemically or with irradiation.
A cerebral arteriovenous malformation (cerebral AVM, CAVM, cAVM, brain AVM, or BAVM) is an abnormal connection between the arteries and veins in the brain—specifically, an arteriovenous malformation in the cerebrum. The most frequently observed problems related to a cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) are headaches and seizures, cranial nerve afflictions including pinched nerve and palsy, backaches, neckaches, and nausea from coagulated blood that has made its way down to be dissolved in the cerebrospinal fluid.
Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The most common presentation of cerebrovascular disease is an ischemic stroke or mini-stroke and sometimes a hemorrhagic stroke. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is the most important contributing risk factor for stroke and cerebrovascular diseases as it can change the structure of blood vessels and result in atherosclerosis.
An alternative intracranial aneurysm embolic agent is emerging in the form of hydrogels due to their ability to be injected in liquid phase and solidify in situ. Hydrogels have the ability to fill an aneurysm sac more completely compared to solid implants ...
Medical interventions in the central nervous system (CNS) are challenging due to the complexity and delicacy of the brain tissue. Techniques that do not require opening the skull would alleviate patient discomfort and increase post-operative outputs. Vesse ...
Endovascular embolization techniques are showing an extraordinary potential to treat patients suffering from complex neurovascular malformations. The embolization with liquid embolic agents via Onyx is a prominent approach to treat arteriovenous malformati ...