No abstract

The findings support the assumption that new brain lesions, as detected with DWI after CAS or CEA, do not affect cognitive performance in a manner that is long-lasting or clinically relevant. Despite the higher embolic load detected by DWI, CAS is not associated with a greater cognitive decline than CEA.

BackgroundSurgery for symptomatic sacral perineural cysts remains an issue of discussion. Assuming micro-communications between the cyst and thecal sac resulting in a valve mechanism and trapping of CSF as a pathomechanism, microsurgical fenestration from the cyst to the thecal sac was performed to achieve free CSF communication.MethodsIn 13 consecutive patients (10 female, 3 male), MRI revealed sacral perineural cysts and excluded other pathologies. Micro-communication between the thecal sac and the cysts was shown by delayed contrast filling of the cysts on postmyelographic CT. Surgical fenestration achieved free CSF communication between the thecal sac and cysts in all patients. The patient histories, follow-up examinations and self-assessment scales were analyzed. Symptoms at initial presentation included lumbosacral pain, pseudoradicular symptoms, genital pain and urinary dysfunction. Mean follow-up was 10.7 ± 6.6 months.FindingsBesides one CSF fistula, no surgical complications were observed. Five patients did not improve after surgery; in four of these cases multiple cysts were found, but small and promptly filling cysts remained untreated. Seven patients reported lasting benefit following surgery; three of these had single cysts, and all had cysts >1 cm. One patient initially benefited from cyst fenestration but experienced recurrent pain within 2 months postoperatively. Re-myelography revealed delayed contrast filling of the recurrent cyst; however, surgical revision did not lead to an improvement despite successful fenestration and collapse of the cyst revealed by postoperative imaging.ConclusionsMicrosurgical fenestration of sacral perineural cysts to the thecal sac is a surgical approach that has shown success in the treatment of lumbosacral pain, pseudoradicular symptoms, genital pain and urinary dysfunction associated with sacral perineural cysts. Our analysis, however, shows that mainly patients with singular large cysts benefit from this treatment.

Background and Purpose-Stenting is increasingly used as an adjunct to medical therapy in symptomatic intracranial stenoses. High periprocedural adverse event rates are one of the limitations of endovascular treatment. Data from the INTRASTENT multicentric registry should demonstrate in-hospital complications at the current stage of clinical development of the stent procedure. Methods-Participating centers entered the records of all their consecutive intracranial stent procedures into the database.To determine the clinical outcome in the acute phase, we distinguished transient ischemic attack/nondisabling stroke (modified Rankin Scale Ͻ2), disabling stroke, death, and intracranial hemorrhage as clinical complications and analyzed whether they were associated with patient-or stenosis-related risk factors. Results-Data from 372 patients with 388 stenoses proved 4.8% disabling strokes and 2.2% deaths. Transient or minor events were detected in 5.4% of the cases. Hemorrhagic events (3.5%) occurred more frequently after treatment of middle cerebral artery stenoses (Pϭ0.004) and were associated with significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates. Ischemic strokes by compromise of perforating branches were detected mainly in the posterior circulation. However, the overall rate of severe adverse events was not dependent from location, degree, and morphology of the stenosis or from patient's age, gender, vascular risk factors, or type of qualifying event. Conclusion-The complication rates within the registry are within the limits of previously published data. Severe adverse events were equally distributed between potential risk groups with similar rates but different types of main complications in the anterior and posterior circulation. (Stroke. 2010;41:494-498.)

Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (EVT) is widely accepted as the first-line treatment for acute ischemic stroke in patients with large vessel occlusion. Being an invasive treatment, this method is associated with various preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative complications. These complications may influence peri-interventional morbidity and mortality and therefore treatment efficacy and clinical outcome. The aim of this review is to discuss the most common types of complications associated with EVT, the probable mechanisms of injury, and effective methods to manage and prevent complications.