Intravascular Placement of Metallic Coils as Lung Tumor Markers for CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiation Therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To present our experience with placing endovascular coils in pulmonary arteries used as a fiducial marker for CyberKnife therapy and to describe the technical details and complications of the procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between June 2005 and September 2013, 163 patients with primary or secondary lung malignancies, referred for fiducial placement for stereotactic radiosurgery, were retrospectively reviewed. Fourteen patients (9 men, 5 women; mean age, 70 years) with a history of pneumonectomy (n = 3), lobectomy (n = 3) or with severe cardiopulmonary co-morbidity (n = 8) underwent coil (fiducial marker) placement. Pushable or detachable platinum micro coils (n = 49) 2-3 mm in size were inserted through coaxial microcatheters into a small distal pulmonary artery in the vicinity of the tumor under biplane angiography/fluoroscopy guidance. RESULTS: Forty nine coils with a median number of 3 coils per tumor were placed with a mean tumor-coil distance of 2.7 cm. Forty three (87.7%) of 49 coils were successfully used as fiducial markers. Two coils could not be used due to a larger tumor-coil distance (> 50 mm). Four coils were in an acceptable position but their non-coiling shape precluded tumor tracking for CyberKnife treatment. No major complications needing further medication other than nominal therapy, hospitalization more than one night or permanent adverse sequale were observed. CONCLUSION: Endovascular placement of coil as a fiducial marker is safe and feasible during CyberKnife therapy, and might be an option for the patients in which percutaneous transthoracic fiducial placement might be risky.

Anomalous origin of the left subclavian artery from the pulmonary artery.

Isolated left subclavian artery from the pulmonary trunk is a rare congenital cardiovascular malformation. In this report, we present the images of ascending aortic aneurysm and left subclavian artery originating from the pulmonary artery in a 4-year-old girl in addition to her congenital cardiac pathology.

CT- and Fluoroscopy-Guided Percutaneous Transabdominal Embolization of Type II Endoleak.

We report a case of a 79-year-old male patient who was treated 3 years previously at another hospital for an abdominal aortic aneurysm with a maximal diameter of 80 mm. After the treatment control period, computed tomography imaging revealed a type II endoleak and no progression in the size of the aneurysm sac. Selective injection of the superior mesenteric artery revealed that the endoleak was filled by the inferior mesenteric artery via the marginal artery. However, it was not possible to access using retrograde catheterization. We decided to treat the type II endoleak percutaneously. Embolization was performed at the tomography table using fluoroscopy with a mobile C-arm, and the puncture was performed transabdominally because there was no access to the sac via a translumbar approach. Under fluoroscopic guidance, various diameter/length coils were deployed. Follow-up computed tomography scans confirmed the collapsed aneurysm sac. When other conventional endovascular methods have failed, percutaneous transabdominal treatment of a type II endoleak with sac enlargement offers an alternative treatment method.