[Five Cases of Neuroendovascular Treatment Using the Goose Neck Snare for Inducing and Holding the Guiding Catheter]

The stabilization of a guiding catheter is a very important factor for successful endovascular treatment. However, it is sometimes difficult to obtain sufficient stabilization because of the tortuosity of the approach route. A Goose Neck Snare is useful for the retrieval of intravascular foreign bodies and can be used to hold the guiding catheter. We describe five cases of endovascular treatment performed while using the Goose Neck Snare via the brachial artery to hold the guiding catheter. We discuss the utility of this strategy.

Stenting for atherosclerotic stenosis of the intracranial or skull base cerebral arteries. Effectiveness and problems

SUMMARY

Since May 1992, we have performed percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or stenting 70 times for 65 lesions in 62 patients with atherosclerotic stenosis of the intracranial or skull base cerebral arteries. Stenting was carried out nine times for nine lesions in nine cases. Stenting was performed on patients with an average age of 62. The patients were eight men and one woman. The stenotic lesions involved the internal carotid artery (petrous portion) in four cases, the internal carotid artery (cavernous portion) in two cases, the internal carotid artery (supraclinoid portion) in one case, the middle cerebral artery (M1) in one case, and the vertebral artery (V4) in one case. The degree of stenosis ranged from 70% to 99%, with a mean of 80%. A stent for coronary arteries was used in all cases. After PTA was carried out in four cases, their initial extension was inadequate, and dissection was performed in five cases after PTA. As for the results of the treatment, subarachnoid haemorrhage occurred in one case due to perforation by the guidewire, and a major deficit was accepted. During the operation, asymptomatic cerebral infarction by distal embolism occurred in one case. Although obstruction of the lesion occurred three months after treatment in one case, symptoms did not appear. Stents used for atherosclerotic stenosis of the intracranial or skull base cerebral arteries still do not have sufficient performance. Although the stenting had problems, such as a prolonged patent, in the present condition, it was effective in terms of recovery from complications due to PTA.

Education and propagation of intravascular surgery in okinawa

SUMMARY

Okinawa is an island located on the southwest edge of the Japanese Islands in which about 1,300,000 people live, and is an area where selfconclusion type medical treatment is desired. In this area, intravascular surgery was only performed for several cases per year until 1998. From May 1999, intravascular surgery started being performed in earnest, and 140 or more cases of intravascular surgery per year were performed in 2002. In the meantime, various measures for the propagation and development of intravascular surgery that we undertook led to the increase in the number of cases. As a result, the choice of medical treatment has increased by propagating these medical treatments, and it seems that this has contributed to the welfare of the people of Okinawa.

Droplet electrocoupling between capillary electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectroscopy and its application

A droplet of an electroconductive solution was put on the sample plate of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectroscope (MALDI-TOF-MS) and the outlet terminal of a capillary Electrophoresis (CE) capillary was put into this droplet in order to make an electro-connection and to apply high voltage between the metallic sample plate and the counter pole of the CE. This procedure was simple and gave much more stable interfacing than that of the electrospray method. Furthermore, the separated component was collected and concentrated in a droplet. By mixing each separated sample spot with the MALDI matrix on the sample plate, the spots were analyzed in separated sequences to make three-dimensional mass chromatograms, or applied to the enzyme digestion analysis for peptide sequencing.

[Schwannoma of the cervical spinal cord with cervical angina: a case report]

A case of schwannoma of the cervical spinal cord presenting with cervical angina is reported. A 49-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with severe chest pain, cold sweats, and unconsciousness. Extensive cardiac examination showed no abnormal findings. Neurological deficits were muscular weakness and atrophy of the left arm, bilateral hypersthesia of the arms, and hyporeflexia of the left biceps. MRI revealed a tumor in the left side of the spinal canal between C4 and C5. The diagnosis was neurinoma of the left nerve root in C5. The tumor was completely removed surgically by laminectomy. Surgery confirmed that the tumor had originated from the left posterior root of C5 and that, histologically, it was schwannoma. The severe chest pain immediately disappeared after removal of the tumor with only dull post-operative chest pain remaining. We hypothesized that the severe chest pain was protopathic pain caused by compression of the anterior C5 root by the tumor and/or disturbance of the inhibitory pain mechanisms of the sympathetic nerve located in the posterior horn of the spinal cord. It must be kept in mind that cervical angina caused by spinal schwannoma is one of the differential diagnoses of chest pain.

[Recent progress in intravascular neurosurgery for the treatment of cerebrovascular disease]

With the recent advances in the devices and techniques in intravascular neurosurgery such as microcatheters or a digital subtraction angiography, intravascular neurosurgery plays an important role for the treatment of cerebrovascular disease. We describe here, a recent progress in intravascular neurosurgery for the treatment of cerebrovascular disease. As a treatment of cerebrovascular disease, we discuss the treatment of cerebral aneurysm using Guglielmi detachable coils (GDC), and the treatment of ischemic cerebrovascular disease such as the thrombolytic therapy for the acute embolic occlusion of the cerebral artery, and a percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or a stenting for the stenotic lesion of the cerebral arteries. Embolization of the cerebral aneurysm using GDC is less invasive method compare to the standard neurosurgical clipping of aneurysm. So, recently it becomes one of standard methods of the treatment of cerebral aneurysm. Thrombolytic therapy, PTA and stenting also become an important treatment for the ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

An extensive cranial base meningioma extending bilaterally into Meckel's cave: case report

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE

A patient with an extensive cranial base meningioma that included bilateral invasion of Meckel's cave underwent surgical resection and had an unexpected rare complication, malocclusion from bilateral trigeminal dysfunction.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION

A 19-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital with alternating painful ophthalmoplegia. He had been blind since the age of 10 years. At the time of admission, neurological findings included bilateral visual loss and optic atrophy. Magnetic resonance images showed an extensive tumor located at the planum sphenoidale, tuberculum sellae, and bilaterally at Meckel's cave and the medial tentorial incisura.

INTERVENTION

The patient underwent a two-stage operation. During the first procedure, the masses in the planum sphenoidale, tuberculum sellae, and the left side of Meckel's cave were excised intradurally. At the second operation, the mass in the right side of Meckel's cave was excised extradurally and the tentorial mass was removed intradurally. The patient's postoperative course was complicated by bilateral trigeminal nerve dysfunction, which caused malocclusion.

CONCLUSION

Bilateral dysfunction of the trigeminal nerve may cause a number of problems. Thus, extreme caution must be taken to preserve the function of this nerve.

[Lymphocytic infundibulo-hypophysitis with diabetes insipidus as a new clinical entity: a case report and review of the literature]

In 1992, we reported a lymphocytic adenohypophysitis (LIH) (Neurol Med Chir). We considered this case unusual in that the case was that of a menopausal female and that it was accompanied with diabetes insipidus as classical lymphocytic adenohypohysitis (LAH). Subsequently, Ahmed reported two cases which presented a similar pathological manifestation, except for necrosis, as did our case and named them "necrotizing infundibulo-hypophysitis." Recently we encountered another similar case, which is reported hereunder. A female, 34 years of age, had suffered from headache, polyuria, and amenorrhea. CT scan showed a pituitary mass, and pituitary tumor was surgically removed transcranially at a local hospital. The pathological examination revealed the findings of chronic inflammation and necrosis. One month after the operation, however, she was an in-patient again under the suspicion of meningitis for fever and, when antibiotic therapy at the local hospital resulted in no improvement, she was referred to our hospital. Endocrinological studies showed low FSH, LH, ACTH and plasma cortisol level. Antibodies of serum to RNP, Sm, mitochondria, nucleus, AChR, and DNA were all negative. Because of an intrasellar mass with suprasellar extension on MRI, transsphenoidal operation was conducted four months after the initial operation. The pathological examination revealed the infiltration of lymphocytes, plasma cells, and foamy macrophages, and necrosis. After this operation, the headache was cured and the patient was discharged. Two months subsequent to the second operation, headache recurred and temporal upper quadrantic anopsia was noted. An enlarged tumor was found, but prednisolone worked to cure the pain and the visual field defect was found to have been remedied. The patient's diabetes insipidus is presently persisting, and she still relies on the use of desmopressin acetate and is still in need of cortisol replacement therapy. Including our cases, ten cases of lymphocytic hypophysitis, not related to pregnancy or delivery but with diabetes insipidus, have been reported. Several clinical and anatomical features distinguish these 10 cases from classical LAH. The classical LAH was predominantly related to pregnancy or delivery. However 6 of 10 cases were male in LIH. LAH related to pregnancy or delivery does not accompany diabetes insipidus, but all reported cases of LIH had a diabetes insipidus. Visual field and/or ocular movement disturbance are LAH's chief complaints (15 out of 25 cases) but visual field disturbance seldom occurs in LIH (1 out of 10 cases). Hypopituitarism is more serious in LAH, and 4 cases became fatal from an adrenal crisis. Anatomically, inflammatory change of LIH is located anterior and posterior to the pituitary gland and extends to the pituitary stalk and, at times, hypothalamus. On the other hand, LAH relates to pregnancy or delivery, the inflammatory change localizes to the adenohypophysis. Ahmed emphasized necrosis, while necrosis was not a prominent histological finding in LIH. Necrosis was noted only in 3 of 10 cases. To be stressed, rather, are the inflammatory changes seen on the neurohypophysis and the pituitary stalk, together with the characteristic diabetes insipidus. We believe, in view of the above, that what Ahmed named necrotizing infundibulo-hypophysitis should be named "LIH with diabetes insipidus." Whereas differential diagnosis is necessary between this said new disorder and the conventional LAH, we advocate that the latter, which is related to pregnancy or parturition but is free from neurohypophysitis be identified as "LAH related to pregnancy or delivery." With respect to treatment, steroid therapy is essential. If the symptoms do not improve, a transsphenoidal operation for diagnosis (LIH and LAH) and decompression (the case of LAH with visual or external ocular movement disturbance) is advisable. However, extensive surgery is not recommended, because per

[A successfully operated case of tuberous sclerosis presenting with intractable epilepsy]

A 20-year-old male patient with tuberous sclerosis was admitted to our hospital complaining of intractable epilepsy. He had been suffering from frequent seizures despite anticonvulsant treatment since the age of 1 year. CT scan and magnetic resonance images showed multiple calcified lesions at the paraventricle and temporal lobe on both sides. Electroencephalogram showed left temporal lobe dominant spike waves. After deep electrodes were inserted into the left amygdala and hippocampus and subdural electrodes were placed on the left temporal cortex, clinical seizures were monitored by video and EEG. The primary focus was found in the amygdala. Left temporal lobectomy was carried out through the cranio-orbital zygomatic approach. Postoperatively, the patient has been seizure-free for one year. Despite multiple intracerebral lesions in tuberous sclerosis, resection of the primary epileptogenic focus is needed to solve the seizure problem if the focus is localized.