Mohamed Samy Elhammady

OBJECT: As endovascular techniques have become more advanced, preoperative embolization has become an increasingly used intervention in the management of meningiomas. To date, however, no consensus has been reached on the use of this technique. To clarify the role of preoperative embolization in the management of meningiomas, the authors conducted a systematic review of case reports, case series, and prospective studies to increase the current understanding of the management options for these common lesions and complications associated with preoperative embolization. METHODS: A PubMed search was performed to include all relevant studies in which the management of intracranial meningiomas with preoperative embolization was reported. Immediate complications of embolization were reported as major (sustained) or minor (transient) deficits, death, or no neurological deficits. RESULTS: A total of 36 studies comprising 459 patients were included in the review. Among patients receiving preoperative embolization for meningiomas, 4.6% (n = 21) sustained complications as a direct result of embolization. Of the 21 patients with embolization-induced complications, the incidence of major complications was 4.8% (n = 1) and the mortality rate was 9.5% (n = 2). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative embolization is associated with an added risk for morbidity and mortality. Preoperative embolization may be associated with significant complications, but careful selection of ideal cases for embolization may help reduce any added morbidity with this procedure. Although not analyzed in the authors' study, embolization may still reduce rates of surgical morbidity and mortality and therefore may still have a potential benefit for selected patients. Future prospective studies involving the use of preoperative embolization in certain cases of meningiomas may further elucidate its potential benefit and risks.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the feasibility and safety of transradial access (TRA) in the interventional management of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). METHODS: A retrospective review of the local institutional AIS interventional databases of three tertiary academic centers was performed and the use of TRA identified. RESULTS: TRA was attempted in 15 (1.5%) of 1001 patients; it was used in 12 cases due to transfemoral access (TFA) failure and in 3 as the primary strategy. The mean age was 72.3±8.6 and 46% were male. Baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 19.5±8.7, two patients (14%) received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator, and mean time from last known normal to intra-arterial therapy was 17.0±20.1 h. Five patients had anterior circulation occlusive disease and 10 had vertebrobasilar occlusions. TRA was effective in allowing clot engagement in 13 of 15 cases: one patient had a hypoplastic radial artery that precluded sheath advancement and one had chronic innominate artery occlusion that could not be crossed. Mean time to switch from TFA to TRA was 1.9±1.3 h and the mean time from radial puncture to reperfusion was 2.2±1.0 h. Modified Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction 2b-3 reperfusion via TRA was achieved in 9 of 15 patients (60%). No radial puncture site complications were noted. At 90 days, two patients (13%) had a good clinical outcome and seven (50%) had died. CONCLUSIONS: Failure of TFA in the endovascular treatment of AIS is uncommon but leads to unacceptable delays in reperfusion and poor outcomes. Standardization of benchmarks for access switch could serve as a guide for neurointerventionalists. TRA is a valid approach for the endovascular treatment of AIS.

Minimally invasive and interbody and instrumented fusion techniques are increasingly being used for the treatment of adult degenerative disc disease, stenosis, and deformity of the lumbar spine. Advocates of minimal access spinal approaches list certain advantages over open procedures, including decreased postoperative pain and narcotic requirements, shorter hospital stays, less blood loss, and smaller incisions. The minimally invasive anterolateral approach allows access to the lumbar spine through the retroperitoneal space. We report on the short-term clinical and radiographic outcomes in four patients with mid to high lumbar coronal deformities treated at our institution with the anterolateral transpsoas minimally invasive approach. The primary presentation of these patients was back and leg pain. All patients showed improvement in their preoperative symptoms and solid arthrodesis at 6 months. Independent nonbiased patient pain analysis was also performed. Mean follow-up was 10 months (standard deviation, 1.4 mo), and mean hospital stay was 3.5 days (standard deviation, 1.9 d). One patient had additional posterior segmental instrumentation placed. Mean Cobb angles in the coronal plane were 28.5 degrees preoperatively and 18.3 degrees postoperatively (P < 0.05). We also present a historical perspective on retroperitoneal spine surgery, a regional anatomic description of the lumbosacral plexus and surrounding structures, and a description of the surgical technique as related to treatment of lumbar deformity.

OBJECT: Retinoblastoma is the most common ocular neoplasm in children. Left untreated it spreads to the brain via the optic nerve. Traditional therapy is enucleation, and while this procedure is still the most common treatment worldwide, modern eye-preserving therapies can often spare the globe. However, patients with retinoblastoma often present in advanced stages of the disease when these globe-preserving strategies are often insufficient to prevent enucleation. In these challenging cases, direct infusion of chemotherapy into the ophthalmic artery has been attempted to achieve tumor control. The authors' aim in this study was to report on their initial experience with and clinical results for this approach. METHODS: The authors prospectively collected data on all cases of retinoblastoma treated with selective intraophthalmic melphalan at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. All cases were classified as International Intraocular Retinoblastoma Classification (IIRC) Group D or Reese-Ellsworth Group Vb, had not responded to aggressive multimodal therapy consisting of chemotherapy and focal consolidating laser therapy, and were pending enucleation. Using digital subtraction angiography, a microcatheter was navigated under roadmap guidance into the ophthalmic artery, and melphalan was infused over 40 minutes. Early in the series, patients were treated with 3 or 5 mg of melphalan, but after low response rates occurred all eyes were treated with 7.5 mg of melphalan. All patients were examined with funduscopy while under anesthesia 3 weeks after treatment and every 3 months thereafter. Patients with persistent disease were retreated with repeat infusions of melphalan. RESULTS: Twenty-six procedures were performed to treat 17 tumors in 15 patients. Successful cannulation of the ophthalmic artery was achieved in all cases. The follow-up ranged from 3 to 12 months, with a mean of 8.6 months. Overall, 76% of the tumors responded to therapy and these cases were spared enucleation. The average number of treatments was 1.5 per tumor. Of the responders, 54% responded to a single dose of melphalan. Treatment with the higher dose of 7.5 mg up front was associated with a lower enucleation rate (0% vs 36%) as compared with the lower starting dose. Delayed vitreous hemorrhage occurred after 4 (15%) of 26 treatments, and these cases were treated with enucleation. CONCLUSIONS: In this challenging group of advanced retinoblastomas refractory to aggressive multimodal therapy, virtually 100% of eyes are generally enucleated. In contrast, the authors' protocol of infusing melphalan directly into the ophthalmic artery led to a dramatic decrease in the enucleation rate to 23.5%. While it is now the treatment of choice for refractory retinoblastoma at their center, its role in less advanced disease remains to be elucidated.