[Spinal arteriovenous malformations]. / Spinale arteriovenöse Malformationen.

Spinal vascular malformations include various entities such as spinal arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and represent a rare disease. Patients may present with acute or progressive sensorimotor deficits and/or nonspecific symptoms such as hypoesthesia or paresthesia, diffuse back and muscle pain, or feelings of weakness. When spinal arteriovenous malformation is suspected, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the first diagnostic step to rule out other differential diagnoses, followed by a selective spinal angiography. Therapeutic options include endovascular therapy by embolization and/or surgical resection. If spinal AVM is treated properly, a significant reduction in symptoms can be achieved.

[Cerebral dural arteriovenous fistulas]. / Zerebrale durale arteriovenöse Fisteln.

CLINICAL ISSUE: The cerebral dural arteriovenous (AV) fistula is a rare cerebral vascular malformation. Clinical presentation varies from asymptomatic to acute intracranial bleeding. Classification is based on the venous drainage with a risk assessment of bleeding. The carotid-cavernous fistula is a subtype with its own classification and treatment approaches. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: Nowadays, dural fistulas can be diagnosed using high-resolution and time-resolved tomographic methods. Catheter angiography with subsequent interdisciplinary discussion should be performed for precise classification and therapy planning. Both endovascular and surgical treatment methods are available.

[COVID-19: neurological manifestations-update : What we know so far]. / COVID-19: neurologische Manifestationen ­ Update : Was wir bisher wissen.

Beyond pulmonary presentation, COVID-19 infection can manifest with a variety of both acute and chronic neurologic and neuropsychiatric (concomitant) symptoms and diseases. Nonspecific symptoms such as headache, fatigue, olfactory and gustatory disturbance have been reported more frequently, and severe disease such as encephalopathy, encephalitis, and cerebrovascular events have been reported relatively rarely. The heterogeneity of neurologic and neuropsychiatric presentations is large, as well as the range of recorded prevalences. Older patients, pre-existing neurologic and non neurologic comorbidities and severe COVID-19 disease were associated with increased risk of severe neurologic complications and higher in-hospital mortality. Probable neurotropic pathomechanisms of SARS-CoV­2 have been discussed, but a multifactorial genesis of neurologic/neuropsychiatric symptoms and disease beyond these is likely.

[Nonaccidental traumatic brain injury in infants and children]. / Nichtakzidentelles Schädel-Hirn-Trauma bei Säuglingen und Kleinkindern.

Violent traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause brain dysfunction and injury. Accidental and nonaccidental trauma are still the leading cause of childhood death worldwide. It is assumed that about 20% of TBI in children under 2 years of age are nonaccidentally caused. In all cases, nonaccidental TBI is caused by the violent impact on the brain and spinal cord by the massive shaking of the child held by the upper arms or body. This can lead to a rupture of blood vessels, especially bridge veins, as well as axonal shear injuries to the nerve connections and brain swelling. Involvement of the brain stem can lead to initial short-term respiratory arrest. The resulting clinical symptoms include poor drinking, drowsiness, apathy, cerebral seizures, breathing disorders, temperature disorders, and vomiting as a result of increased intracranial pressure. Long-term disorders can include neurological and neuropsychological disorders, hearing disorders, visual disorders up to blindness, and poor school performance. In addition, there are metaphyseal fractures and rib fractures of various forms, also of different ages. Since shaking trauma has a poor prognosis, preventive measures are useful: education!

[Spinal cord vascular diseases]. / Spinale Gefäßmissbildungen.

Spinal vascular malformations include various entities, including spinal dural arteriovenous (AV) fistulas, acquired malformations and cavernous hemangiomas, and spinal arteriovenous malformations. AV fistula refers to a spinal cord vascular malformation in which there is a short-circuit connection between a dural artery and a perimedullary vein superficial to the myelon. The condition is relatively rare, initial clinical symptoms are often misinterpreted, and a definitive diagnosis is often delayed by 12 months or more. However, early diagnosis is important to prevent progression of clinical symptoms, which may include paraplegia. Early magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is helpful, showing intramedullary edema in the T2-weighted sequences and superficial, markedly dilated veins. Treatment consists of ligation of the AV fistula, either surgically or by embolization. Cavernous hemangiomas, consisting of a large number of closely located immature blood vessels, are also relatively rare and have a low risk of bleeding (approximately 0.2-0.5%). Venous hemorrhage may also occur, resulting in clinical symptoms (including paraplegia).

[New trends in the treatment of bifurcation aneurysms]. / Neue Trends zur Behandlung von Bifurkationsaneurysmen.

CLINICAL ISSUE: Intracranial aneurysms most commonly occur at bifurcation sites. In case of dealing with broad based aneurysms, the risk of accidental vessel occlusion during embolization should not be underestimated. Therefore, several devices are available, e.g. WEB device and barrelsStent. Besides that, a special technique gives the opportunity to place two stents into each other or next to each other into both branches of a bifurcation. Over 300 patients included in 18 studies were treated with Y­stenting (e.g., Medline/Embase) showing a good clinical outcome in 92%. A complete occlusion was achieved in 91%. The rate of neurologic deficits was 4%, the procedure-caused mortality was 2%. Furthermore, 12% of the patients sustained a stroke during the intervention. Ruptured aneurysm was found in 19%. CONCLUSION: All in all, a high occlusion rate and a low rate of mortality and stroke were shown by using Y­stenting.

The FRED for Cerebral Aneurysms of the Posterior Circulation: A Subgroup Analysis of the EuFRED Registry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Flow diversion for the posterior circulation remains a promising treatment option for selected posterior circulation aneurysms. The Flow-Redirection Intraluminal Device (FRED) system has not been previously assessed in a large cohort of patients with posterior circulation aneurysms. The purpose of the present study was to assess safety and efficacy of FRED in this location. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients with posterior circulation aneurysms treated at 8 centers participating in the European FRED study (EuFRED) between April 2012 and January 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Complication and radiographic and functional outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: Eighty-four patients (median age, 54 years) with 84 posterior circulation aneurysms were treated with the FRED. A total of 25 aneurysms (29.8%) had previously ruptured, even though most aneurysms were diagnosed incidentally (45.2%). The intradural vertebral artery was the most common location (50%), and saccular, the most common morphology (40.5%). The median size was 7 mm. There were 8 (9.5%) symptomatic thromboembolic and no hemorrhagic complications. Thromboembolic complications occurred mostly (90.9%) in nonsaccular aneurysms. On last follow-up at a median of 24 months, 78.2% of aneurysms were completely occluded. Functional outcome at a median of 27 months was favorable in 94% of patients. All mortalities occurred in patients with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage and its sequelae. CONCLUSIONS: The largest cohort of posterior circulation aneurysms treated with the FRED to date demonstrated favorable safety and efficacy profiles of the device for this indication. Treatment in the setting of acute subarachnoid hemorrhage was strongly related to mortality, regardless of whether procedural complications occurred.

[Toxic changes of the central nervous system]. / Toxische Veränderungen des zentralen Nervensystems.

CLINICAL ISSUES: Various toxic agents can cause changes to the white matter of the brain leading to leukoencephalopathies. These changes often lead to signal alterations of the white matter with or without a diffusion restriction signal. White matter lesions can be reversible or irreversible. There are many differential diagnoses of toxic leukoencephalopathies. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS: For the radiologist it is necessary to be familiar with the causes, the clinical and the imaging presentation of toxic leukoencephalopathies because early treatment often leads to improved prognosis.

[Metabolic induced changes of the central nervous system]. / Metabolisch verursachte Veränderungen des Zentralnervensystems.

CLINICAL ISSUE: The diagnosis of metabolic disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) can be very challenging for radiologists because of the nonspecific white matter lesions of the brain, the rarity of these diseases, and the variety of possible differential diagnoses. RADIOLOGICAL STANDARD METHODS: Standard for the evaluation of the metabolic disorders is cranial MRI. The MRI spectroscopy can additionally help to reduce the possible differential diagnoses.

[Fetal magnetic resonance imaging]. / Fetale Magnetresonanztomographie.

CLINICAL ISSUE: The most important prenatal screening method for the detailed assessment of the fetus is ultrasound, which is often combined with colour-coded Doppler sonography. In case of sonographically diagnosed fetal pathologies or technical limitations of the ultrasound, supplementary diagnostics may be necessary. STANDARD RADIOLOGICAL METHODS: With fast MRI sequences, fetal MRI screening provides important additional information especially with regard to the most common congenital pathologies-central nervous system (CNS) pathologies (agenesis of the corpus callosum, ventriculomegaly, arachnoid cyst, pathologies of the posterior cranial fossa, dysfunction of the gyrification). Knowledge of the developmental stages of the CNS is very important for accurate clinical assessment and interpretation.

[Dandy-Walker malformation]. / Dandy-Walker-Malformation.

The Dandy-Walker malformation is the most frequent cerebral malformation. It is defined by hypoplasia and upward rotation of the vermis cerebelli, a cystic enlargement of the fourth ventricle and in total an enlarged posterior fossa with cranially shifted position of the lateral sinus, tentorium and torcula herophili. This malformation was first described by Dandy and Blackfan in 1914 then supplemented again by Taggart and Walker in 1942. The current description as Dandy-Walker malformation was introduced in 1954 by Bender. In addition to these classical findings, the Dandy-Walker malformation is characterized by other abnormalities and malformations of the central nervous system (CNS) including agenesis of the corpus callosum, heterotopia, occipital meningocele, visual deficits and epilepsy. Neurogenetic and imaging examinations have led to a better understanding of this malformation.

European Multicenter Study for the Evaluation of a Dual-Layer Flow-Diverting Stent for Treatment of Wide-Neck Intracranial Aneurysms: The European Flow-Redirection Intraluminal Device Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Endoluminal reconstruction with flow-diverting stents represents a widely accepted technique for the treatment of complex intracranial aneurysms. This European registry study analyzed the initial experience of 15 neurovascular centers with the Flow-Redirection Intraluminal Device (FRED) system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with the FRED between February 2012 and March 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Complications and adverse events, transient and permanent morbidity, mortality, and occlusion rates were evaluated. RESULTS: During the defined study period, 579 aneurysms in 531 patients (median age, 54 years; range, 13-86 years) were treated with the FRED. Seven percent of patients were treated in the acute phase (≤3 days) of aneurysm rupture. The median aneurysm size was 7.6 mm (range, 1-36.6 mm), and the median neck size 4.5 mm (range, 1-30 mm). Angiographic follow-up of >3 months was available for 516 (89.1%) aneurysms. There was progressive occlusion witnessed with time, with complete occlusion in 18 (20%) aneurysms followed for up to 90 ± 14 days, 141 (82.5%) for 180 ± 20 days, 116 (91.3%) for 1 year ± 24 days, and 122 (95.3%) aneurysms followed for >1 year. Transient and permanent morbidity occurred in 3.2% and 0.8% of procedures, respectively. The overall mortality rate was 1.5%. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study in real-world patients demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the FRED for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. In most cases, treatment with a single FRED resulted in complete angiographic occlusion at 1 year.