Coil Embolization of the Azygos Anterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysm: Three Case Reports.

The azygos anterior cerebral artery (ACA) is a rare anatomical anomaly. Clipping surgery has been conducted in approximately 30 reported cases because it is frequently associated with aneurysms. However, few cases in which coil embolization was performed have been reported. We report three cases of coil embolization for distal ACA aneurysms with distal azygos ACA at our institution in 7 years. All patients were over 65-year-old women with saccular aneurysms larger than 7 mm; two with subarachnoid hemorrhage and one with an unruptured aneurysm. No patient had surgical complications associated with coil embolization. Coil embolization is also useful for large aneurysms in the distal azygos ACA, and its indication for treatment could be broadened.

De Novo Vertebral Artery Dissecting Aneurysm after Parent Artery Occlusion of the Contralateral Vertebral Artery.

After treatment of unilateral vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm (VADA), de novo VADA rarely occurs on the contralateral side. In this article, we report a case of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) due to de novo VADA in the contralateral vertebral artery (VA) 3 years after parent artery occlusion of unilateral VADA, with a review of the literature. A 47-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of headache and impaired consciousness. Head computed tomography showed SAH, and three-dimensional computed tomography angiography showed a fusiform aneurysm in the left VA. We performed an emergency parent artery occlusion. Three years and 3 months after the initial treatment, the patient presented to our hospital with complaints of headache and neck pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed SAH, and magnetic resonance angiography revealed de novo VADA in the right VA. We performed a stent-assisted coil embolization. The patient had a good postoperative course and was discharged with a modified Rankin scale score of 0. Long-term follow-up is necessary in patients with VADA because contralateral de novo VADA can develop even several years after the initial treatment.

Coil embolization for ruptured distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysm at the supracallosal portion: Two case reports.

Background: Distal anterior cerebral artery (ACA) aneurysms occur more frequently in the genu portion and much less frequently in the supracallosal portion (A4-A5). This report describes two cases of ruptured cerebral aneurysms occurring at the supracallosal portion successfully treated with coil embolization. Case Description: Case 1 involved a 61-year-old female with sudden-onset headache and vomiting attributed to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) revealed a bihemispheric ACA and aneurysm in the supracallosal portion. Coil embolization was performed, and the patient was discharged without neurological deficit. Case 2 involved a 35-year-old man with severe headache and disturbance of consciousness caused by SAH. DSA showed an aneurysm in A4 of the accessory ACA, and coil embolization was performed. After rehabilitation, he was discharged with a modified Rankin scale score of 2. Conclusion: Coil embolization for a ruptured aneurysm at the supracallosal portion can yield good results if the patient is appropriately selected.

Secondary parkinsonism caused by chronic subdural hematomas owing to compressed cortex and a disturbed cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit: illustrative case.

BACKGROUND: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a commonly encountered condition in neurological and neurosurgical practice, but the presence of concomitant parkinsonism is extremely rare. Basal ganglia disturbance is a well-known underlying mechanism; however, few cases present with cerebral cortex compression as the cause of symptoms. OBSERVATIONS: A 52-year-old man was referred to the authors' hospital with a 5-week history of gait disturbance and suspected Parkinson's disease. Neurological examination revealed a mask-like face, stooped posture, left-predominant rigidity, and postural instability. The authors initiated dopamine agonist administration, and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was scheduled. One week later, MRI showed bilateral CSDHs. The hematomas markedly compressed the bilateral cerebral cortex, whereas the midbrain and basal ganglia structures were intact. The patient underwent burr hole drainage and was discharged after 9 days without sequelae. LESSONS: CSDH can cause parkinsonism by compressing the cerebral cortex, which is a part of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit. Surgery leads to positive outcomes, as illustrated by this case, in which cerebral cortex compression caused parkinsonism.

Survival benefit from boron neutron capture therapy for the newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients.

OBJECTIVE: Since 2002-2007, we applied boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) to >50 cases of malignant gliomas (MGs) with epithermal neutron irradiations. Recently, we showed the early radiographical improvement of malignant glioma patients by our modified BNCT, with simultaneous use of BPA (borono-phenylalanine) and BSH (sodium borocaptate). In this time, we focused on the survival benefit from BNCT for the newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients. METHODS: BNCT group including 21 newly histological confirmed glioblastoma patients treated with surgical removal followed by BNCT in Osaka Medical College during 2002-2006 period. Ten patients were treated with BNCT only, and in the other 11 patients, 20-30 Gy fractionated external beam X-ray irradiation therapy (XRT) was performed after BNCT. No chemotherapy was administered until tumor progression was observed. RESULTS: Treatments were well tolerated. Any kind of acute systemic or local severe toxicity were not demonstrated. Mean over all survival of the patients treated by BNCT was 20.7 and the median was 15.6 months with 2-years survival of 25%. Stratification by RPA criteria showed 6, 6, 8 and 1 patients, respectively, in classes III-VI. Three patients out of six in class III and one out of eight in class V are alive at the end point of this study. All the patients in classes IV and VI died. Median survival time for the BNCT group compared to the RTOG database was as follows: 20.6 months vs. 17.9 months for class III; 16.9 months vs. 11.1 months for class IV; 13.2 months vs. 8.9 months for class V. CONCLUSION: The RTOG RPA prognostic criteria were helpful in establishing which class of glioma patients could potentially benefit from BNCT. BNCT showed a survival benefit in all of the RPA classes of the RTOG database not only for the good prognosis group.

The early successful treatment of glioblastoma patients with modified boron neutron capture therapy. Report of two cases.

We very effectively treated two patients with recurrent glioblastoma with modified boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). In this paper, we describe the effectiveness of this treatment, and discuss the ways in which we modified the treatment. A 61-year-old man had a first operation for a right temporal glioblastoma, followed by full-dose chemo-radiotherapy. One year after the operation a partial removal was performed for the recurrent tumor at the same site. Fifty days after the second surgery, the patient received BNCT. We used an epithermal neutron beam as the neutron source, and used both sodium borocapate and boronophenylalanine as boron compounds with the craniotomy. Forty-eight hours after the BNCT, the follow-up MRI was applied to estimate the early effect of this treatment, which showed a 70% reduction in the contrast enhanced lesion, compared with the pretreatment MRI. In addition, the lesion/normal brain ratio of thallium-SPECT had improved markedly. No serial sequelae appeared after this treatment, and the patient remains healthy 6 months after the treatment. A 29-year-old young lady had a right temporal brain tumor, which was partially resected and followed by stereotactic radiosurgery for the residual mass. Seven months after the radiosurgery, a second operation was performed, which revealed the glioblastoma as diagnosis. We applied BNCT uneventfully for this patient with epithermal beam and two kinds of boron compounds as described above. For the treatment of the patient irradiation was applied without craniotomy with marked reduction of tumor volume immediately after the treatment.