Carotid-cavernous fistula: closure with detachable silicone balloons.

Detachable silicone rubber balloons, which do not require an outer catheter to effect detachment, were used to close carotid-cavernous fistulas in 10 patients. Closure was effective in nine of 10 patients. The internal carotid artery was intentionally occluded in two patients.

Therapeutic embolization with detachable balloons.

In our first 18 months' clinical experience with embolization in the chest and abdomen using detachable balloons, successful results were obtained in 34 of 38 patients. One and 2-mm detachable silicone balloons, which can occlude vessels 4--8 mm in diameter, were employed. Prolonged balloon inflation was routinely achieved using iso-osmotic iodipamide meglumine as the filler and limiting inflation volumes to experimentally determined maximums.

Embolotherapy with detachable silicone balloons: technique and clinical results.

Catheter techniques and early clinical results of therapeutic embolization with detachable silicone rubber balloons are described in 13 patients. Effective control of post-traumatic or spontaneously occurring hemorrhage or preoperative devascularization of neoplasms was achieved in 10 patients. Three additional patients, one each with pelvic arteriovenous malformation.

Therapeutic embolization with detachable silicone balloons. Early clinical experience.

A recently developed percutaneous transcatheter technique for selectively occluding arteries with detachable silicone balloons was applied in four patients. Uncontrollable hemorrhage from carcinoma of the cervix was controlled by selective uterine artery occlusion in one patient. Life-threatening hemorrhage from cystic fibrosis in another patient was controlled by balloon occlusion of a bronchial artery.

A comparison of unipolar and bipolar electrograms for cardiac pacemaker sensing.

Simultaneous unipolar and bipolar electrograms were recorded and compared from 49 pacemaker patients with bipolar endocardial electrodes. Average bipolar depolarization signal voltage equalled that of unipolar but showed greater variation. Bipolar and unipolar slew rates were equal in both mean and variance.

The ventricular endocardial electrogram and pacemaker sensing.

During cardiac pacemaker implantation and pulse generator replacement, unipolar, right ventricular electrograms were recorded from 133 patients (77 at implantation and 56 at pulse generator replacement) at 200 mm. per second with a band pass of 0.1 to 2,000 Hz on photographic paper.