Faculty Bibliography

Type III coronary perforations are a lethal complication of percutaneous intervention. While most involve "cavity-spilling", or extravasation of contrast into the pericardial space, a few flow into an anatomic chamber. A case of balloon angioplasty-induced Type III perforation of the ramus intermedius (RI) with iatrogenic fistula formation to the great cardiac vein is presented and, to our knowledge, is the first report involving a perforated RI with a resultant fistula to the great cardiac vein.

Arteriovenous fistula of the scalp secondary to punch autograft technique is a relatively uncommon occurrence, similar to traumatic scalp arteriovenous fistulas from other causes. A pulsatile subcutaneous mass with an associated thrill or bruit and symptoms including pain or headache is a common presentation. Angiography is required for full diagnostic evaluation. Angioarchitecture may appear complex, even with a single-hole fistula. Super-selective angiography and embolization facilitate surgery and provide essential information regarding angioarchitecture. Complete excision of the lesion is curative. Identification and resection of the draining vein is mandatory to ensure a complete resection. The lesion may extend across traditional anatomic planes. Ligation of proximal feeding arteries is inadequate and potentially harmful. Histopathology of the traumatic arteriovenous fistula may appear similar to that of an arteriovenous malformation. Acquired arteriovenous fistulas and congenital arteriovenous malformations are markedly similar in their ultimate histopathology, angioarchitecture, angiographic appearance, hemodynamics, and treatment requirements. They should be considered to represent a spectrum of the same disease state rather than discrete entities

Magnetic resonance and computed tomographic angiography have been increasingly applied to the study of disease affecting the cerebral vasculature. Despite these advances, however, conventional cerebral angiography clearly remains the diagnostic gold standard and essential guide to any microneurosurgical or endovascular therapeutic decision concerning cerebral aneurysms. Detailed cerebral angiography is a dynamic study and is influenced by prior axial imaging. It should be tailored to the specific circumstance to obtain information required for selection of the most beneficial treatment

Endovascular therapy of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVM's) is an accepted adjunct to surgical therapy. However, the literature has not characterized the benefits or the liabilities of preoperative embolization. This series compares two groups of patients who underwent surgical resection of a cerebral AVM; one group (20 patients) received preoperative transfemoral selective embolization with N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) and the other group (13 patients) did not. In the group with preoperative embolization, the AVM's were larger (3.9 vs. 2.3 cm) and of a higher Spetzler-Martin grade (3.2 vs. 2.5) as compared to the nonembolized group. The NBCA embolization facilitated surgical resection. Arteries supplying the vascular malformation were readily distinguished from those supplying the normal brain parenchyma. Embolized vessels were compressible and easily cut with microscissors. No bleeding occurred from transected vessels. Operative time and intraoperative blood loss for the two groups were not statistically different, despite the significant differences in lesion size and grade. Endovascular complications included immediate and delayed hemorrhage (15%) and transient ischemia (5%); there were no embolization-related deaths. Postoperative complications for both groups included hemorrhage (15%), residual AVM (6%), and cerebrospinal fluid leak (3%); the mortality rate was 3%. There was no statistically significant difference in surgical complications between the embolized and nonembolized groups. Most patients (91%) in both groups had an excellent or good late neurological outcome, with no significant difference between the groups. This study concludes that preoperative NBCA embolization of AVM's makes lesions of larger size and higher grade the surgical equivalent of lesions of smaller size and lower grade by reducing operative time and intraoperative blood loss, with no statistically significant difference in surgical complications or long-term neurological outcome