Long-term outcome after endovascular treatment of cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistula and a literature review.

Background: The long-term efficacy of endovascular treatment (EVT) for cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistulae (CS-dAVF) was assessed with a special focus on residual shunts after initial EVT.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective survey included 50 patients who had undergone EVT and were followed for 1 month or longer (median follow-up 56 months).

Results: Common preoperative symptoms were chemosis (78%), extra-ocular motor palsy (72%), exophthalmos (66%), and tinnitus (26%).

Effect of Revascularization on Headache Associated with Moyamoya Disease in Pediatric Patients.

Episodic headache is common in childhood moyamoya disease (MMD). The onset, mechanism, cause of headache and the effect of revascularization surgery on headache are not yet clear. We studied 10 cases of children (7 boys and 3 girls) younger than 18 years who underwent revascularization for MMD between 2009 and 2013.

C-type natriuretic peptide modulates permeability of the blood-brain barrier.

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is abundant in brain and is reported to exert autocrine function in vascular cells, but its effect on blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability has not been clarified yet. Here, we examined this effect. Transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) of in vitro BBB model, composed of bovine brain microvascular endothelial cells and astrocytes, was significantly dose dependently decreased by CNP (1, 10, and 100 nmol/L).

Clinical presentation and treatment of distal anterior inferior cerebellar artery aneurysms.

Aneurysms located at the distal portion of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) are rare, and their clinical features are not fully understood. We report the clinical features and management of nine distal AICA aneurysms in nine patients treated during the past decade at Kagoshima University Hospital and affiliated hospitals. Our series includes seven women and two men.

Clinical presentation and treatment of aneurysms associated with basilar artery fenestration.

Aneurysms associated with a fenestrated basilar artery are rare, and treatment strategies have yet to be established. A direct surgical approach to the basilar artery is challenging because the surrounding anatomy is complex. We retrospectively compared the clinical features and treatment outcomes of eight patients (seven female, one male) with aneurysms associated with a fenestrated basilar artery after clipping or coil embolisation and reviewed the literature.

Clinical presentation and treatment of distal posterior inferior cerebellar artery aneurysms.

Aneurysms located at the distal portion of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) are rare, and their clinical features are not fully understood. We report the clinical features and management of 30 distal PICA aneurysms in 28 patients treated during the past decade at Kagoshima University Hospital and affiliated hospitals. Our series includes 20 women and eight men.

The cyclooxygenase site, but not the peroxidase site of cyclooxygenase-2 is required for neurotoxicity in hypoxic and ischemic injury.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemic injury, but the exact mechanisms responsible for its toxicity remain unclear. Infection of primary neurons with an adenovirus expressing wild type (WT) COX-2 increased the susceptibility of neurons to hypoxia. Infection with an adenoviral vector expressing COX-2 with a mutation at the cyclooxygenase site did not increase susceptibility to hypoxia, whereas over-expression of COX-2 with a mutation in the peroxidase site produced similar susceptibility to hypoxia as WT COX-2.

Accuracy and pitfalls of multidetector-row computed tomography in detecting spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas.

Object: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of multidetector-row CT angiography (MDCTA) in demonstrating spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVFs).

Methods: The authors studied 10 patients with SDAVFs, including 2 with spinal epidural AVFs, who underwent preoperative MR imaging, MDCTA, and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). In the evaluation of coronal sections of multiplanar reformation MDCTA images, inspection was focused on the presence of the following findings: 1) dilated perimedullary veins in the spinal canal; 2) focal enhancement of the nerve root, suggesting the location of the AVF, around the dural sleeve; and 3) a radicular vein that drains the AVF into perimedullary veins.

The effects of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor olprinone on global cerebral ischemia.

Background: The phosphodiesterase III inhibitor olprinone has been confirmed to improve myocardial function and increase cerebral blood flow; therefore, if olprinone exerts direct neuroprotective effects against global cerebral ischemia to the same degree as cilostazol, olprinone could be useful for cerebral resuscitation after cardiac arrest. We examined whether olprinone directly protected neuronal cells from global cerebral ischemia both in vivo and in vitro.

Methods: In a rat model of 10-minute global cerebral ischemia induced by 4-vessel occlusion, 0.

Use of a guide wire system to insert guiding catheters.

In patients with severe arteriosclerosis or anatomical variations such as a bovine arch, the insertion of a guiding catheter for carotid artery stenting is difficult. The authors use a guide wire system as an anchor and advance the guiding catheter to an area proximal to the stenotic structure. This method is useful and safer than others for carotid artery stenting.

Changes in tissue factor and the effects of tissue factor pathway inhibitor on transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats.

Introduction: To determine the contribution of tissue factor (TF) to focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, we investigated the changes in TF in rat brains with transient focal cerebral ischemia and also assessed the effect of TF pathway inhibitor (TFPI).

Materials And Methods: Spontaneous hypertensive rats were subjected to 90-min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and then were reperfused for up to 24 h. Immediately after MCAO, recombinant human TFPI (rhTFPI) (50 or 20 microg/kg/min) was administered by means of a continuous intravenous injection for 4.

Multi-detector-row CT angiography as a preoperative evaluation for spinal arteriovenous fistulae.

The role of multi-detector-row computed tomographic angiography (MDCTA) in spinal vascular malformations has not yet been determined. We present a report on a short series of spinal arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) evaluated by MDCTA. With 4-row and 16-row MDCTA, three cases of spinal dural AVF and one case of perimedullary AVF were examined.

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus.

We report a 74-year-old Japanese man with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) originating in the frontal sinus. It presented as a cutaneous nodule on his right forehead. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed invasion of the anterior wall of the ethmoid sinus, the frontal bone, and possibly the meninx by a frontal sinus carcinoma.

C-type natriuretic peptide is specifically augmented by pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide in rat astrocytes.

In rat-cultured astrocytes, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) activates gene expression and secretion of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. These results suggest that PACAP might be involved in the regulation of CNP biosynthesis in astrocytes.

The environment of increased concentration of docosahexaenoic acid in glioblastoma may suppress the anti-tumor effect of macrophages.

Regarding glioblastoma, there has been controversy over whether a large number of infiltrating macrophages act as anti-tumor effectors or not. It has been exhibited that intratumoral lipid environments have a possible influence on anti-tumor immunity. Necrosis of glioblastoma and non-necrotic tissues of astrocytic tumors were analyzed to compare the amount of free docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content.

Intractable hiccups as a presenting symptom of cerebellar hemangioblastoma. Case report.

The authors report on a 52-year-old woman with a cerebellar hemangioblastoma who presented with a 2-year history of intractable hiccups. Computerized tomography scans and magnetic resonance images revealed a cerebellar hemangioblastoma with compression of the brainstem at the level of the medulla oblongata. The patient has been free of hiccups and has been neurologically intact since the day after total removal of the tumor.

Tumefactive myelinoclastic diffuse sclerosis--case report.

A 6-year-old boy presented with mental disturbance and progressive left hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated large intracranial mass lesions with ring-like enhancement. His neurological condition deteriorated rapidly.

Inducible repair of oxidative DNA lesions in the rat brain after transient focal ischemia and reperfusion.

To determine the role of oxidative DNA damage and repair in brain injury after focal ischemia and reperfusion, the authors investigated DNA base damage and DNA base excision repair (BER) capacity, the predominant repair mechanism for oxidative DNA lesions, in the rat model of temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion. Contents of 8-hydroxyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) and apurinic/apyrimidinic abasic site (AP site), hallmarks of oxidative DNA damage, were quantitatively measured in nuclear DNA extracts from brains 0.25 to 72 hours after 1 hour of middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Two caspase-2 transcripts are expressed in rat hippocampus after global cerebral ischemia.

Caspase family genes play a critical role in the initiation and execution of programmed cell death. Programmed cell death is an important contributor to neuronal loss following cerebral ischemia. We have performed a series of experiments to investigate the role of a specific caspase, caspase-2, in the development of delayed neuronal death following transient global ischemia in the rat.

Cloning and characterization of rat caspase-9: implications for a role in mediating caspase-3 activation and hippocampal cell death after transient cerebral ischemia.

Delayed hippocampal neurodegeneration after transient global ischemia is mediated, at least in part, through the activation of terminal caspases, particularly caspase-3, and the subsequent proteolytic degradation of critical cellular proteins. Caspase-3 may be activated by the membrane receptor-initiated caspase-8-dependent extrinsic pathway and the mitochondria-initiated caspase-9-dependent intrinsic pathway; however, the precise role of these deduced apoptosis-signaling pathways in activating caspase-3 in ischemic neurons remains elusive. The authors cloned the caspase-9 gene from the rat brain and investigated its potential role in mediating ischemic neuronal death in a rat model of transient global ischemia.