The use of intraarterial papaverine in the management of vasospasm complicating arteriovenous malformation resection

1995 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 296-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Morgan ◽  
Maurice J. Day ◽  
Nicholas Little ◽  
Verity Grinnell ◽  
William Sorby

✓ The authors report two cases of treatment by intraarterial papaverine of cerebral vasospasm complicating the resection of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Both cases had successful reversal of vasospasm documented on angiography. In the first case sustained neurological improvement occurred, resulting in a normal outcome by the time of discharge. In the second case, neurological deterioration occurred with the development of cerebral edema. This complication was thought to be due to normal perfusion pressure breakthrough, on the basis of angiographic arterial vasodilation and increased cerebral blood flow. These two cases illustrate an unusual complication of surgery for AVMs and demonstrate that vasospasm (along with intracranial hemorrhage, venous occlusion, and normal perfusion pressure breakthrough) should be considered in the differential diagnosis of delayed neurological deterioration following resection of these lesions. Although intraarterial papaverine may be successful in dilating spastic arteries, it may also result in pathologically high flows following AVM resection. However, this complication has not been seen in our experience of treating aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage by this technique.

2000 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Juul ◽  
Gabrielle F. Morris ◽  
Sharon B. Marshall ◽  
_ _ ◽  
Lawrence F. Marshall

Object. Recently, a renewed emphasis has been placed on managing severe head injury by elevating cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), which is defined as the mean arterial pressure minus the intracranial pressure (ICP). Some authors have suggested that CPP is more important in influencing outcome than is intracranial hypertension, a hypothesis that this study was designed to investigate.Methods. The authors examined the relative contribution of these two parameters to outcome in a series of 427 patients prospectively studied in an international, multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial of the N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonist Selfotel. Mortality rates rose from 9.6% in 292 patients who had no clinically defined episodes of neurological deterioration to 56.4% in 117 patients who suffered one or more of these episodes; 18 patients were lost to follow up. Correspondingly, favorable outcome, defined as good or moderate on the Glasgow Outcome Scale at 6 months, fell from 67.8% in patients without neurological deterioration to 29.1% in those with neurological deterioration. In patients who had clinical evidence of neurological deterioration, the relative influence of ICP and CPP on outcome was assessed. The most powerful predictor of neurological worsening was the presence of intracranial hypertension (ICP ≥ 20 mm Hg) either initially or during neurological deterioration. There was no correlation with the CPP as long as the CPP was greater than 60 mm Hg.Conclusions. Treatment protocols for the management of severe head injury should emphasize the immediate reduction of raised ICP to less than 20 mm Hg if possible. A CPP greater than 60 mm Hg appears to have little influence on the outcome of patients with severe head injury.


1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Gruber ◽  
Andrea Reinprecht ◽  
Harald Görzer ◽  
Peter Fridrich ◽  
Thomas Czech ◽  
...  

Object. This observational study is based on a consecutive series of 207 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage who were treated within 7 days of their most recent bleed. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of respiratory failure on neurological outcome. Methods. Pulmonary function was assessed by determination of parameters describing pulmonary oxygen transport and exchange, by using composite scores for quantification of lung injury (lung injury score [LIS]) and mechanical ventilator settings (PIF score). Pulmonary function was related to the Hunt and Hess (H & H) grade assigned to the patient at hospital admission (p < 0.001). The pattern and time course of lung injury differed significantly between patients with H & H Grade I or II, Grade III, and Grade IV or V. Hunt and Hess grade, Fisher computerized tomography grade, intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, LIS, ratio of PaO2 to the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), and the ratio of the alveolar-minus-arterial oxygen tension difference (AaDO2) to FiO2 were related to neurological outcome (p < 0.001). The LIS on the day of maximum lung injury remained an independent predictor of outcome (p = 0.01) in a stepwise logistic regression analysis. The probability of poor neurological outcome significantly increased with both decreasing cerebral perfusion pressure and increasing severity of lung injury. Conclusions. The overall mortality rate was 22.2% (46 of 207 patients). Subarachnoid hemorrhage and its neurological sequelae accounted for the principal mortality in this series. Medical (nonneurological and nontreatment-related) complications accounted for 37% of all deaths. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome with associated multiple organ dysfunction syndrome was the leading cause of death from medical complications. The authors conclude that respiratory failure is related to neurological outcome, although it is not commonly the primary cause of death from medical complications.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Park ◽  
Wayne S. Cail ◽  
Johnny B. Delashaw ◽  
John Kattwinkel

✓ A 2-day-old neonate with a spinal cord arteriovenous malformation developed severe paraparesis. The abrupt neurological deterioration was not associated with hemorrhage or aneurysmal dilatation. Ischemic damage of the spinal cord is suggested as the cause of the clinical manifestation.


1996 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
César P. Lucas ◽  
Evandro de Oliveira ◽  
Helder Tedeschi ◽  
Mario Siqueira ◽  
Mario Lourenzi ◽  
...  

✓ Two cases of dural arteriovenous malformation of the tentorial apex are presented. Both were treated surgically by means of a sinus skeletonization technique. The operative technique included a combined bioccipital and median suboccipital craniotomy in which the posterior third of the superior sagittal and the straight and bilateral transverse sinuses were skeletonized by incising the falx and the tentorium along the sinuses. Endovascular embolization was used prior to the surgical approach in one case. Clinical and angiographic cure was achieved in both patients, with a follow up of 4 years in the first case and 1 year in the second one. The surgical technique is described in detail.


1997 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lali H. S. Sekhon ◽  
Michael K. Morgan ◽  
Ian Spence

✓ Excision of human cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) can be complicated by postoperative edema and hemorrhage in adjacent brain tissue, despite the complete excision of the malformation. Various theories have purported to explain the hemodynamic basis for this predisposition, including disordered autoregulation causing “normal perfusion pressure breakthrough” and obstruction of venous drainage leading to “occlusive hyperemia.” This study did not evaluate the arterial or venous circulations in this scenario, but rather examined the capillaries in adjacent brain parenchyma for any structural deficiencies that would predispose the brain to the postoperative formation of edema and hemorrhage. Arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) were created surgically in the necks of 10 male Sprague—Dawley rats, which caused chronic cerebral hypoperfusion with a reduction in cerebral blood flow of between 25% and 50%. Ten age-matched animals were used as controls. Twenty-six weeks after AVF formation the animals were killed and perfusion fixed. Their brain tissue was prepared for light microscopic studies by staining for glial fibrillary acidic protein or for transmission electron microscopy. In the CA1 pyramidal cell region of the hippocampus, it was found that in the animals with AVFs there was increased capillary density and absent astrocytic foot processes in some of these vessels. It was concluded that these vessels had developed as a result of neovascularization in response to chronic cerebral ischemia and that their anatomical configuration made them prone to mechanical weakness and instability following the increase in perfusion pressure that occurs in adjacent brain parenchyma after AVM excision. The authors believe that this study pinpoints a structural accompaniment to the hemodynamic changes that occur in brain tissue in the vicinity of cerebral AVMs that predispose these areas to the formation of edema and hemorrhage after AVM excision.


1987 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Spetzler ◽  
Neil A. Martin ◽  
L. Philip Carter ◽  
Richard A. Flom ◽  
Peter A. Raudzens ◽  
...  

✓ A series of 20 patients with giant arteriovenous malformations (AVM's) managed with staged embolization and surgical resection is presented. Complete excision was accomplished in 18 of these patients. There were no deaths and only three complications, of which one was disabling. Further evidence for the presence of low perfusion surrounding the AVM, emphasizing the risk of normal perfusion pressure breakthrough, is provided by cortical perfusion pressure, cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF), and stable xenon computerized tomography CBF measurements. The staged approach to giant AVM management is a proposed method to render AVM's that were previously considered inoperable or marginally operable into totally excisable lesions, while maintaining an acceptable level of morbidity and mortality.


1993 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael K. Morgan ◽  
Ian H. Johnston ◽  
John M. Hallinan ◽  
Neville C. Weber

✓ A series of 112 patients undergoing complete surgical resection of arteriovenous malformations (AVM's) of the brain between 1974 and 1990 were analyzed for complications and 12-month outcomes. The cohort consisted of 44 patients with small AVM's (< 2 cm in diameter), 43 patients with medium-sized AVM's (2 to 4 cm in diameter), and 25 patients with large AVM's (> 4 cm in diameter). There was a 3.6% series mortality rate and an 18% morbidity rate. One of the four deaths was caused by normal perfusion pressure breakthrough. Analysis of logistic regression found that the most important factor influencing the occurrence of complications in this series was AVM size (p = 0.005) and that the occurrence of complications (p < 0.001) and the neurological grade at the time of surgery (p < 0.004) both significantly contributed to the outcome at 12 months. This study stresses the importance of defining complications in terms of rigid criteria when analyzing AVM series in order to allow for a correct evaluation of the risk:benefit ratio of surgery. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need for a separate analysis of the importance of complications upon outcome.


2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 1198-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Hai ◽  
Meixiu Ding ◽  
Zhilin Guo ◽  
Bingyu Wang

Object. A new experimental model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion was developed to study the effects of systemic arterial shunting and obstruction of the primary vessel that drains intracranial venous blood on cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), as well as cerebral pathological changes during restoration of normal perfusion pressure. Methods. Twenty-four Sprague—Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either a sham-operated group, an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) group, or a model group (eight rats each). The animal model was readied by creating a fistula through an end-to-side anastomosis between the right distal external jugular vein (EJV) and the ispilateral common carotid artery (CCA), followed by ligation of the left vein draining the transverse sinus and bilateral external carotid arteries. Systemic mean arterial pressure (MAP), draining vein pressure (DVP), and CPP were monitored and compared among the three groups preoperatively, immediately postoperatively, and again 90 days later. Following occlusion of the fistula after a 90-day interval, blood—brain barrier (BBB) disruption and water content in the right cortical tissues of the middle cerebral artery territory were confirmed and also quantified with transmission electron microscopy. Formation of a fistula resulted in significant decreases in MAP and CPP, and a significant increase in DVP in the AVF and model groups. Ninety days later, there were still significant increases in DVP and decreases in CPP in the model group compared with the other groups (p < 0.05). Damage to the BBB and brain edema were noted in animals in the model group during restoration of normal perfusion pressure by occlusion of the fistula. Electron microscopy studies revealed cerebral vasogenic edema and/or hemorrhage in various amounts, which correlated with absent astrocytic foot processes surrounding some cerebral capillaries. Conclusions. The results demonstrated that an end-to-side anastomosis between the distal EJV and CCA can induce a decrease in CPP, whereas a further chronic state of cerebral hypoperfusion may be caused by venous outflow restriction, which is associated with perfusion pressure breakthrough. This animal model conforms to the basic hemodynamic characteristics of human cerebral arteriovenous malformations.


1977 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Matsumura ◽  
Yasumasa Makita ◽  
Kuniyuki Someda ◽  
Akinori Kondo

✓ We have operated on 12 of 14 cases of arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the posterior fossa since 1968, with one death. The lesions were in the cerebellum in 10 cases (three anteromedial, one central, three lateral, and three posteromedial), and in the cerebellopontine angle in two; in two cases the lesions were directly related to the brain stem. The AVM's in the anterior part of the cerebellum were operated on through a transtentorial occipital approach.


1975 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Hodge ◽  
Robert B. King

✓ The authors describe a patient with subarachnoid hemorrhage from an arteriovenous malformation of the choroid plexus and present a brief review of related reports.


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