Complete resolution of life-threatening hemangioma by embolization and corticosteroids

A case is presented in which congestive heart failure and thrombocytopenia were complications of an inoperable hemangioma in a neonate. Selective embolization of the hemangioma in the patient achieved significant diminution in the congestive failure and tided this infant through the first few days of life while awaiting positive effects from the steroids and external compression. The combined treatment modalities of selective embolization, external compression, and short course of low-dose systemic steroids resulted in a rapid and complete resolution of this life-threatening problem.

Cardiovascular trauma from angiographic jets--validation of a theoretic concept in dogs

The relationship of angiographic injections to cardiovascular trauma was determined. The aorta of dogs was studied by a mathematic model that (a) defines the kinetic energy of contrast-media jets emanating from the exit holes of catheters and (b) enables precise correlation of energy levels to potential trauma. A universal curve independent of the Reynolds number of the jet readily determines how far the jet penetrates intravascular blood. A traumatic histopathologic spectrum was found for those injections predicted by the model to be traumatic. The curve enables the angiographer to calculate the safe operating range of any catheter.