Early Outcomes of the Pipeline Vantage Flow Diverter : A Multicentre Study.

PURPOSE: The recently introduced Pipeline Vantage Embolization Device with Shield Technology is the fourth generation of Pipeline flow diverter devices. Due to the relatively high rate of intraprocedural technical complications, modifications were subsequently made to the device after a limited release of the device in 2020. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the modified version of this device. METHODS: This was a multicentre retrospective series. The primary efficacy endpoint was aneurysm occlusion in the absence of retreatment. The primary safety endpoint was any neurological morbidity or death. Ruptured and unruptured aneurysms were included in the study. RESULTS: A total of 52 procedures were performed for 60 target aneurysms. Treatment was performed on 5 patients with ruptured aneurysms. The technical success rate was 98%. The mean clinical follow-up time was 5.5 months. In patients presenting with unruptured aneurysms there were no deaths, 3 (6.4%) major complications and 7 (13%) minor complications. In the five patients presenting with subarachnoid haemorrhage there were 2 (40%) major complications with 1 (20%) of these resulting in death, and 1 (20%) minor complication. Of the patients 29 (56%) had undergone 6­monthly postprocedural angiographic imaging with a mean time of 6.6 months demonstrating that 83% of patients had achieved adequate occlusion (RROC1/2) of the aneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: In this non-industry-sponsored study, the occlusion rates and safety outcomes were similar to those seen in previously published studies with flow diverter devices and earlier generation Pipeline devices. Modifications to the device appear to have improved ease of deployment.

Multimodal imaging of the aging brain: Baseline findings of the LoCARPoN study.

We quantified and investigated multimodal brain MRI measures in the LoCARPoN Study due to lack of normative data among Indians. A total of 401 participants (aged 50-88 years) without stroke or dementia completed MRI investigation. We assessed 31 brain measures in total using four brain MRI modalities, including macrostructural (global & lobar volumes, white matter hyperintensities [WMHs]), microstructural (global and tract-specific white matter fractional anisotropy [WM-FA] and mean diffusivity [MD]) and perfusion measures (global and lobar cerebral blood flow [CBF]). The absolute brain volumes of males were significantly larger than those of females, but such differences were relatively small (<1.2% of intracranial volume). With increasing age, lower macrostructural brain volumes, lower WM-FA, greater WMHs, higher WM-MD were found (P = 0.00018, Bonferroni threshold). Perfusion measures did not show significant differences with increasing age. Hippocampal volume showed the greatest association with age, with a reduction of approximately 0.48%/year. This preliminary study augments and provides insight into multimodal brain measures during the nascent stages of aging among the Indian population (South Asian ethnicity). Our findings establish the groundwork for future hypothetical testing studies.

Outcome study of the Pipeline Vantage Embolization Device (second version) in unruptured (and ruptured) aneurysms (PEDVU(R) study).

BACKGROUND: The Pipeline Vantage Embolization Device (PEDV) is the fourth-generation pipeline flow diverter for intracranial aneurysm treatment. There are no outcome studies for the second PEDV version. We aimed to evaluate safety and efficacy outcomes. Primary and secondary objectives were to determine outcomes for unruptured and ruptured cohorts, respectively. METHODS: In this multicenter retrospective and prospective study, we analyzed outcome data from eight centers using core laboratory assessments. We determined 30-day and ≥3-month mortality and morbidity rates, and 6- and 18-month radiographic aneurysm occlusion rates for procedures performed during the period July 2021-March 2023. RESULTS: We included 121 consecutive patients with 131 aneurysms. The adequate occlusion rate for the unruptured cohort at short-term and medium-term follow up, and also for the ruptured cohort at short-term follow up, was >90%. Two aneurysms (1.5%) underwent retreatment. When mortality attributed to a palliative case in the unruptured cohort, or subarachnoid hemorrhage in the ruptured cohort, was excluded then the overall major adverse event rate in respective cohorts was 7.5% and 23.5%, with 0% mortality rates for each. When all event causes were included on an intention-to-treat basis, the major adverse event rates in respective cohorts were 8.3% and 40.9%, with 0.9% and 22.7% mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: For unruptured aneurysm treatment, the second PEDV version appears to have a superior efficacy and similar safety profile to previous-generation PEDs. These are acceptable outcomes in this pragmatic and non-industry-sponsored study. Analysis of ruptured aneurysm outcomes is limited by cohort size. Further prospective studies, particularly for ruptured aneurysms, are needed.

Post-traumatic Sacral Epidermoid Cyst Masquerading as Chordoma on Imaging: A Case Report.

Intradural spinal epidermoid cysts are rare, benign lesions either acquired from trauma, surgery, lumbar puncture or arise as congenital lesions, particularly associated with spinal dysraphism. Epidermoid cyst arising from the spine with expansile destruction of vertebrae has not been reported yet in the literature. We report a case of 36-years male presented with history of fall 8 years back with progressive symptoms of lower back pain, weakness of left lower limb and bladder/bowel incontinence. Computed tomography revealed large lytic expansile, midline sacral vertebral lesion with soft tissue component and multiple calcific foci. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated large non-enhancing heterogeneous mass showing restricted diffusion on diffusion weighted images. The patient underwent biopsy confirming the diagnosis of an epidermoid cyst. The possibility of an epidermoid tumor should be kept in the differential diagnosis in patients presenting with post-traumatic sacral mass.

COVID-19: Indian Society of Neuroradiology (ISNR) Consensus Statement and Recommendations for Safe Practice of Neuroimaging and Neurointerventions.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced every radiology set-up to evolve and formulate guidelines for day-to-day functioning. The sub-speciality of neuroradiology, both diagnostic and neuro-intervention, forms a very important part of any radiology or 'neuro-care' set-up. The present document is a consensus statement of the Indian Society of Neuroradiology, prepared after reviewing the available data and working experience. It scientifically tries to answer many questions faced by neuroradiologists everyday in practice. It encompasses simple things such as which patients need to be imaged, what precautions are essential, the work-flows, cleaning of radiology equipment, how to carry out neuro-interventions in COVID-suspect patients, and what procedures/tests to avoid, or their alternatives, to minimise the spread of COVID infection both to the patients and health care personnel. As radiology set-ups can be large, every sub-speciality may have certain precautions which will not be covered in general guidelines, and this document tries to answer those for neuroradiologists. Carefully evolved Standards of Operating Procedure (SOPs) and guidelines are the need of the hour to guide in providing uninterrupted and adequate services to the needy without compromising the safety of the specialised work force and facilities involved.

Reversible hypoxic brain injury: the penumbra conundrum of Grinker.

A female patient, aged 61 years, presented to us with a 3-day history of fever and altered sensorium. She was discharged from another hospital 1 week back where she was admitted for community-acquired pneumonia. She was put on mechanical ventilation for threatened airway and her magnetic resonance brain imaging showed evidence of delayed posthypoxic leucoencephalopathy, also known as Grinker's myelinopathy. She was discharged 1 month later, on room air with a tracheostomy tube in situ. On follow-up after 5 months, she was ambulating with support and carried out activities of daily living independently.

Management of Arterial Pseudoaneurysms of the Neck in a Pediatric Population: An Endovascular Case Series and Review of Literature.

BACKGROUND: Arterial pseudoaneurysms of the neck are rarely reported in the pediatric population and no dedicated large series are available. Trauma and infection are the most common causes for these aneurysms, with congenital and collagen vascular disorders being the less common causes. These lesions can be life threatening, especially when they present with bleeding or airway compromise. METHODS: We searched our radiology information system for all cases of pediatric neck aneurysm presented between June 2015 and May 2018. These cases were analyzed for clinicoepidemiologic variables, clinical presentation, imaging findings, management, and follow-up. RESULTS: Six children were included in the study (male/female ratio, 5:1), with a mean age of 7.8 years (range, 2.5-15 years). Four presented acutely with either bleeding or rapidly enlarging neck swelling, whereas 2 presented with slowly increasing pulsatile swelling. One had a traumatic cause, 2 had infections, and 1 had infective cervical lymphadenitis complicated by iatrogenic injury whereas no definite causative mechanisms could be accounted for in 2 patients. Two of the children were managed by trapping of the aneurysm and 2 only by proximal parent vessel occlusion. The other 2 children were treated with stent graft deployment across the aneurysm neck to reconstruct the parent vessel. All the patients were doing well during the follow-up period (mean, 14.8 months). CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular means of treatment for pediatric neck aneurysms is relatively simple and safe. Although parent vessel sacrifice is the gold-standard management, vessel-preserving strategies can be tried in select cases with favorable anatomy.

Evolution of epidermoid cyst into dermoid cyst: Embryological explanation and radiological-pathological correlation.

Intracranial dermoid and epidermoid cysts are usually considered to be two different entities in the radiological and surgical literature. Epidermoid cysts are classically off midline in location, isointense to cerebrospinal fluid on T1 and T2-weighted images and have restricted diffusion, whereas dermoid cysts are classically midline in location, have T1-hyperintense regions due to the presence of fat and show facilitated diffusion. We report a case of radiological epidermoid cyst in baseline imaging, which evolved into a radiological dermoid cyst over time, and explain this unique occurrence with a review of the embryology and histopathogenesis of these cysts.