Publications by authors named "Mohammad Ali Aziz-Sultan"

Deep learning has shown significant value in automating radiological diagnostics but can be limited by a lack of generalizability to external datasets. Leveraging the geometric principles of non-Euclidean space, certain geometric deep learning approaches may offer an alternative means of improving model generalizability. This study investigates the potential advantages of hyperbolic convolutional neural networks (HCNNs) over traditional convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in neuroimaging tasks.

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Background: Middle meningeal artery embolization (MMAE) is an established treatment option for chronic subdural hematoma. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to establish estimates of the pooled incidence for complications following MMAE.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane were searched for studies reporting complications following MMAE through January 2023.

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Global Neurosurgery has been described as the clinical and public health practice of neurosurgery with the primary purpose of ensuring timely, safe, and affordable neurosurgical care to all who need it. Global Neurosurgery activities in the form of mission trips, educational partnerships, and research collaborations have been in place for decades. Still, there have been no central organizing efforts to improve the harmonization of these endeavors until recently.

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Background: Despite the proven effectiveness of endovascular therapy (EVT) in acute ischemic strokes (AIS) involving anterior circulation large vessel occlusions, isolated posterior cerebral artery (PCA) occlusions (iPCAo) remain underexplored in clinical trials. This study investigates the comparative effectiveness and safety of EVT against medical management (MM) in patients with iPCAo.

Methods: This multinational, multicenter propensity score-weighted study analyzed data from the Multicenter Analysis of primary Distal medium vessel occlusions: effect of Mechanical Thrombectomy (MAD-MT) registry, involving 37 centers across North America, Asia, and Europe.

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Article Synopsis
  • Medium vessel occlusion (MeVO) strokes, especially in the M2 segment of the middle cerebral artery, are a significant challenge in stroke management, necessitating effective prediction of patient outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy (MT).
  • This study analyzed data from the MAD-MT registry to evaluate the relationship between follow-up infarct volume (FIV) and 90-day functional outcomes, using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) as a measurement.
  • Results showed that FIV is a strong predictor of outcomes, with specific volume thresholds indicating favorable prognosis; notably, an FIV of ≤15 ml had the best predictive capability, outperforming traditional recanalization scores.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effectiveness and safety of two treatment methods for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) caused by distal medium vessel occlusion (DMVO): intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) versus IVT alone.
  • Data was collected from 37 centers worldwide, involving over 1,000 patients, with the primary focus on functional independence at 90 days and secondary outcomes including mortality and intracerebral hemorrhage.
  • Findings suggest that both treatment options yield similar functional and mortality outcomes for DMVO patients, but the MT-IVT approach carries a higher risk of hemorrhagic complications, indicating that it may not provide significant advantages over IVT alone for every patient.
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Background: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from primary medium vessel occlusions (MeVO) is a prevalent condition associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite the common use of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in AIS, predictors of poor outcomes in MeVO remain poorly characterized.

Methods: In this prospectively collected, retrospectively reviewed, multicenter, multinational study, data from the MAD-MT (Multicenter Analysis of primary Distal medium vessel occlusions: effect of Mechanical Thrombectomy) registry were analyzed.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to compare the safety and effectiveness of endovascular treatment (EVT) versus best medical management (BMM) for patients with acute ischaemic stroke caused by distal medium vessel occlusion (DMVO).
  • The analysis involved 2,125 patients, showing no significant difference in achieving functional independence at 90 days between EVT and BMM, despite EVT being associated with higher rates of hemorrhagic complications.
  • The results suggest that EVT does not provide better functional outcomes than BMM in DMVO cases while increasing the risk of bleeding, indicating the need for cautious use of EVT and further research to improve treatment approaches.
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Article Synopsis
  • Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from distal medium vessel occlusions (DMVOs) is common, and while IV thrombolysis is standard, mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is becoming more prevalent for treatment.
  • A study reviewed data from 1708 DMVO patients treated with MT, finding that 8.7% experienced symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) and identified several risk factors, including older age, distal occlusion location, prior antiplatelet use, lower ASPECT scores, higher pre-op blood glucose, more passes during MT, and successful recanalization status.
  • Understanding these risk factors can help healthcare providers better assess and manage the risk of sICH in patients undergoing MT for DM
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Background: Stroke remains a major health concern globally, with oral anticoagulants widely prescribed for stroke prevention. The efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in anticoagulated patients with distal medium vessel occlusions (DMVO) are not well understood.

Methods: This retrospective analysis involved 1282 acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients who underwent MT in 37 centers across North America, Asia, and Europe from September 2017 to July 2023.

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Background And Objectives: While somatic mutations have been well-studied in cancer, their roles in other complex traits are much less understood. Our goal is to identify somatic variants that may contribute to the formation of saccular cerebral aneurysms.

Methods: We performed whole-exome sequencing on aneurysm tissues and paired peripheral blood.

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Background: Afghanistan has suffered through conflicts that have detrimentally impacted its health care systems. The countries' neurosurgeons have worked through wars and political upheavals to build solid practices and handle large caseloads with minimal supplies and almost no modern tools. Understanding the current state of neurosurgery in Afghanistan and the challenges faced by Afghan physicians and patients is critical to improving the country's healthcare capacity.

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Objectives: COVID-19 presents a risk for delays to stroke treatment. We examined how COVID-19 affected stroke response times.

Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify articles covering stroke during COVID-19 that included time metrics data pre- and post-pandemic.

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Background: Seizures are the second most common presenting symptom of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Evidence supporting different treatment modalities is continuously evolving and it remains unclear which modality offers better seizure outcomes.

Objective: To compare various interventional treatment modalities (i.

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Background: To analyse the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) and identify factors predicting functional outcome.

Methods: Multicentre retrospective cohort study of COVID-19 patients with AIS who presented to 30 stroke centres in the USA and Canada between 14 March and 30 August 2020. The primary endpoint was poor functional outcome, defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) of 5 or 6 at discharge.

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Background: Infectious intracranial aneurysms (IIAs), or mycotic aneurysms, are infectious inflammatory lesions that can cause devastating neurological damage or death. Recent systemic reviews have suggested endovascular treatment to be efficacious for IIA management.

Objective: To compare the safety profile of different endovascular methods for treating ruptured and unruptured IIAs and factors associated with good clinical and radiographic outcomes.

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Objectives: Aneurysms associated with hemorrhagic moyamoya disease (MMD) are reported to stabilize or recede following revascularization.

Case Report/results: A 29 year-old male with no past medical history presented obtunded with diffuse intraventricular hemorrhage and vascular imaging demonstrating bilateral MMD without any associated aneurysms. He underwent a delayed right-sided STA-MCA bypass and pial synangiosis, and was subsequently discharged on hospital day 24 with a modified Rankin Scale score (mRS) of 2.

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Some skull base tumors can be extremely hypervascular, incorporating multiple vascular territories and demonstrating arteriovenous shunting. Devascularization is a critical step undertaken early in meningioma surgery, necessary before the debulking that is required in skull base tumors. While devascularization can often be achieved with appropriate approach selection, bony drilling, and microsurgical cautery, preoperative embolization of meningiomas has an invaluable role in selected cases.

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Background: Catheter retention and difficulty in retrieval have been observed during embolization of brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) with the Onyx liquid embolic system (Onyx). The Apollo Onyx delivery microcatheter (Apollo) is a single lumen catheter designed for controlled delivery of Onyx into the neurovasculature, with a detachable distal tip to aid catheter retrieval. This study evaluates the safety of the Apollo for delivery of Onyx during embolization of bAVMs.

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Background: Pure arterial malformations (PAMs) are rare vascular anomalies that are commonly mistaken for other vascular malformations. Because of their purported benign natural history, PAMs are often conservatively managed. The authors report the case of a ruptured PAM leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with intraventricular extension that was treated endovascularly.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study compared two endovascular flow diverters, the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) and Flow Redirection Intraluminal Device (FRED), focusing on their effectiveness in treating posterior circulation aneurysms.
  • - Using a matched cohort design, researchers collected data from 375 treated aneurysms and found no significant differences in aneurysm occlusion or complication rates between the two devices.
  • - However, FRED demonstrated a higher rate of favorable functional outcomes (100% vs. 87.9%) compared to PED, suggesting the need for further research into these functional differences.
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Background: Machine learning (ML) has been increasingly used in medicine and neurosurgery. We sought to determine whether ML models can distinguish ruptured from unruptured aneurysms and identify features associated with rupture.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients with intracranial aneurysms detected on vascular imaging at our institution between 2002 and 2018.

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Background and Purpose- Mechanical thrombectomy has been shown to improve clinical outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, the impact of balloon guide catheter (BGC) use is not well established. Methods- STRATIS (Systematic Evaluation of Patients Treated With Neurothrombectomy Devices for Acute Ischemic Stroke) was a prospective, multicenter study of patients with large vessel occlusion treated with the Solitaire stent retriever as first-line therapy.

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Background and Purpose- Digital subtraction angiography has been used as the gold standard to confirm successful aneurysmal obliteration after aneurysm clipping procedures using titanium or cobalt alloy clips. Computed tomographic angiography is a newer, less invasive imaging technique also used to confirm successful aneurysmal obliteration; however, its use compared with digital subtraction angiography remains controversial. Methods- A comprehensive literature search was conducted on Pubmed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases through November 6, 2017, for studies that evaluated postclipping aneurysm obliteration with both computed tomographic angiography and digital subtraction angiography.

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