Twenty-nine percutaneous balloon dilations of the axillary and subclavian veins were performed in 19 patients. Stenoses occurred in typical locations of anatomic narrowing or at sites of previous trauma. The initial success rate was 76%, with a 1-year patency rate of 35% and a 2-year patency rate of 6%. Angioplasty can be performed on an outpatient basis with a very low rate of significant complications and can be repeated numerous times to keep a vein patent for many years. This procedure is especially valuable in dialysis patients who have limited access sites.

No abstract

Under the auspices of the International Society for Neurovascular Disease (ISNVD), four expert panel committees were created from the ISNVD membership between 2011 and 2012 to determine and standardize noninvasive and invasive imaging protocols for detection of extracranial venous abnormalities indicative of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). The committees created working groups on color Doppler ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, catheter venography (CV), and intravascular US. Each group organized a workshop focused on its assigned imaging modality. Non-ISNVD members from other societies were invited to contribute to the various workshops. More than 60 neurology, radiology, vascular surgery, and interventional radiology experts participated in these workshops and contributed to the development of standardized noninvasive and invasive imaging protocols for the detection of extracranial venous abnormalities indicative of CCSVI. This ISNVD position statement presents the MR imaging and intravascular US protocols for the first time and describes refined color Doppler US and CV protocols. It also emphasizes the need for the use of for noninvasive and invasive multimodal imaging to diagnose adequately and monitor extracranial venous abnormalities indicative of CCSVI for open-label or double-blinded, randomized, controlled studies.

No abstract