Endovascular management for tandem occlusions of anterior cerebral circulation.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the endovascular approaches and techniques used to treat tandem occlusions of anterior cerebral circulation. METHODS: A literature review was carried out using PubMed to review the studies that described endovascular therapies for patients with tandem cerebral occlusions. RESULTS: A total of 106 patients (median age: 64 years; range: 18-90 years) were identified. The median National Institutes of Health Stroke scale score at the time of admission for 104 patients was 16.5 (standard deviation [SD] +/-5.7). The mean times and ranges from symptom onset to recanalization were 396.85 minutes (range: 120-1,574 minutes) and from groin puncture to recanalization were 80.3 minutes (range: 14-180 minutes). The mean outcome modified Rankin scale (mRS) score was 2.31 (SD +/-2.2), and 61.3% of patients had an outcome mRS score

Astrocytoma with high-grade features and MYBL1-MMP16 fusion.

Background: Gliomas represent the most common primary intraparenchymal brain tumors in adult and pediatric patients. Neuropathological work-up of these gliomas typically entails the determination of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutational status, presence or absence of 1p/19q co-deletion, and O6 methylguanine-DNA methyl-transferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status. Case Description: We present here an unusual case of a posterior fossa tumor in a 51-year-old female, which was initially diagnosed as astrocytoma with some high-grade features that recurred, displaying even more aggressive features such as infiltration and increased proliferative activity. Both the initially resected and recurrent tumor revealed MYBL1-MMP16 fusion, which is much more commonly found in pediatric low-grade gliomas and, to our knowledge has not been described in the context of an adult glioma. Conclusion: The significance of MYBL1-MMP16 fusion in adult gliomas in relation to survival and likelihood of recurrence is, therefore, unknown and requires more extensive research.

Surgical or Endovascular Management of Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms: A Randomized Comparison.

OBJECTIVE: There are few randomized data comparing clipping and coiling for middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms. We analyzed results from patients with MCA aneurysms enrolled in the CURES (Collaborative UnRuptured Endovascular vs. Surgery) and ISAT-2 (International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial II) randomized trials. METHODS: Both trials are investigator-led parallel-group 1:1 randomized studies. CURES includes patients with 3-mm to 25-mm unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs), and ISAT-2 includes patients with ruptured aneurysms (RA) for whom uncertainty remains after ISAT. The primary outcome measure of CURES is treatment failure: 1) failure to treat the aneurysm, 2) intracranial hemorrhage during follow-up, or 3) residual aneurysm at 1 year. The primary outcome of ISAT-2 is death or dependency (modified Rankin Scale score >2) at 1 year. One-year angiographic outcomes are systematically recorded. RESULTS: There were 100 unruptured and 71 ruptured MCA aneurysms. In CURES, 90 patients with UIA have been treated and 10 await treatment. Surgical and endovascular management of unruptured MCA aneurysms led to treatment failure in 3/42 (7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02-0.19) for clipping and 13/48 (27%; 95% CI, 0.17-0.41) for coiling (P = 0.025). All 71 patients with RA have been treated. In ISAT-2, patients with ruptured MCA aneurysms managed surgically had died or were dependent (modified Rankin Scale score >2) in 7/38 (18%; 95% CI, 0.09-0.33) cases, and 8/33 (24%; 95% CI, 0.13-0.41) for endovascular. One-year imaging results were available in 80 patients with UIA and 62 with RA. Complete aneurysm occlusion was found in 30/40 (75%; 95% CI, 0.60-0.86) patients with UIA allocated clipping, and 14/40 (35%; 95% CI, 0.22-0.50) patients with UIA allocated coiling. Complete aneurysm occlusion was found in 24/34 (71%; 95% CI, 0.54-0.83) patients with RA allocated clipping, and 15/28 (54%; 95% CI, 0.36-0.70) patients with RA allocated coiling. CONCLUSIONS: Randomized data from 2 trials show that better efficacy may be obtained with surgical management of patients with MCA aneurysms.