Multicenter US clinical experience with the Scepter Mini balloon catheter.

INTRODUCTION: Distal navigability and imprecise delivery of embolic agents are two limitations encountered during liquid embolization of cerebrospinal lesions. The dual-lumen Scepter Mini balloon (SMB) microcatheter was introduced to overcome these conventional microcatheters' limitations with few small single-center reports suggesting favorable results. METHODS: A series of consecutive patients undergoing SMB-assisted endovascular embolization were extracted from prospectively maintained registries in seven North-American centers (November 2019 to September 2022). RESULTS: Fifty-four patients undergoing 55 embolization procedures utilizing SMB were included (median age 58.5; 48.1% females). Cranial dural arteriovenous fistula embolization was the most common indication (54.5%) followed by cranial arteriovenous malformation (27.3%). Staged/pre-operative embolization was done in 36.4% of cases; and 83.6% of procedures using Onyx-18. Most procedures utilized a transarterial approach (89.1%), and SMB-induced arterial-flow arrest concurrently with transvenous embolization was used in 10.9% of procedures. Femoral access/triaxial setups were utilized in the majority of procedures (65.5% and 60%, respectively). The median vessel diameter where the balloon was inflated of 1.8 mm, with a median of 1.5 cc of injected embolic material per procedure. Technical failures occurred in 5.5% of cases requiring aborting/replacement with other devices without clinical sequelae in any of the patients, with SMB-related procedural complications of 3.6% without clinical sequelae. Radiographic imaging follow-up was available in 76.9% of the patients (median follow-up 3.8 months), with complete occlusion (100%) or >50% occlusion in 92.5% of the cases, and unplanned retreatments in 1.8%. CONCLUSION: The SMB microcatheter is a useful new adjunctive device for balloon-assisted embolization of cerebrospinal lesions with a high technical success rate, favorable outcomes, and a reasonable safety profile.

Surgical Burr Hole Access for Direct Sinus Puncture and Transvenous Coil Embolization of a Complex Superior Sagittal Sinus Dural Arteriovenous Fistula.

Dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) account for 10-15% of all cerebral vascular malformations,1 and their location around the superior sagittal sinus is rare with an incidence of 4-11% of all dAVFs.2 Endovascular transarterial or transvenous embolization are the treatment routes of choice for dAVFs,3 but in rare cases direct sinus access may be favorable.4 5 We present an unusual case of a complex superior sagittal sinus dAVF with multiple arterial feeders and an occluded posterior superior sagittal sinus segment which was challenging for classic embolization routes. A combined surgical and endovascular approach in the hybrid biplane operating room was performed and is shown in video 1 By using a direct surgical burr hole for sinus access anterior to the dAVF and the thrombosed sinus portion followed by transvenous coil embolization, the dAVF was cured in a minimally invasive and safe fashion.neurintsurg;jnis-2023-020774v1/V1F1V1Video 1Treatment of a complex superior sagittal sinus dural arteriovenous fistula by surgical burr hole access for direct sinus puncture and transvenous coil embolization.