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Intracranial arterial aneurysms can pose life-threatening risks to patients, so understanding the cause and the progression of these lesions is important for choosing the right treatment. This Review argues that aneurysms are a symptom of an underlying vascular disease rather than constituting a disease on their own. The authors classify intracranial aneurysms by vessel wall pathology and demonstrate that knowledge of the morphology and pathology of this structure is important in determining the therapeutic approach. An aneurysm is a focal dilatation of an arterial blood vessel. Luminal forces, such as high blood flow, shear stress and turbulence, are implicated in the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms, and luminal characteristics, such as sac size and morphology, are usually essential to the clinical decision-making process. Despite frequent clinical emphasis on the vessel lumen, however, the pathology underlying the formation, growth and rupture of an aneurysm mainly resides in the vessel wall. Research on the morphology and histopathology of the vessel wall reveals that intracranial aneurysms do not constitute a single disease, but are a shared manifestation of a wide range of diseases, each of which has a unique natural history and optimum therapy. This Review classifies intracranial aneurysms by vessel wall pathology, and demonstrates that understanding the morphology and pathology of this structure is important in determining the therapeutic approach. The article concludes that aneurysms represent a symptom of an underlying vascular disease rather than constituting a disease on their own. Key Points Intracranial aneurysms do not constitute a single disease, but are a manifestation of a wide range of diseases Aneurysmal diseases vary in their natural histories and optimum treatment strategies Despite frequent clinical emphasis on the vessel lumen, the pathology underlying aneurysm formation, growth and rupture mainly resides in the vessel wall A classification of intracranial aneurysms based on vessel wall pathology is important to understand these life-threatening conditions and to determine the best therapeutic approaches

This review provides an overview of structural magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography findings of direct and indirect alcohol-related toxic effects on the brain. In addition to ethanol-related changes to the brain, this article will also describe imaging findings in the acute setting of methanol and ethylene glycol poisoning. Alcohol will lead to brain atrophy, osmotic myelinolysis, Marchiafava–Bignami disease and, especially when related to malnutrition, may also cause Wernicke encephalopathy. Brain atrophy can be reversible if alcohol abuse is stopped. If not treated, Wernicke encephalopathy can lead to coma and death and an early diagnosis is important for immediate initiation of thiamine substitution. As clinical symptoms are often unspecific, the radiologist plays an important role in the detection of alcohol abuse and its related clinical conditions.

The treatment of pial arteriovenous brain malformations is controversial. Little is yet known about their natural history, their pathomechanisms and the efficacy and risks of respective proposed treatments. It is known that only complete occlusion of the AVM can exclude future risk of haemorrhage and that the rates of curative embolisation of AVMs with an acceptable periprocedural risk are around 20 to 50%. As outlined in the present article, however, partial, targeted embolisation also plays a role. In acutely ruptured AVMs where the source of bleeding can be identified, targeted embolisation of this compartment may be able to secure the AVM prior to definitive treatment. In unruptured symptomatic AVMs targeted treatment may be employed if a defined pathomechanism can be identified that is related to the clinical symptoms and that can be cured with an acceptable risk via an endovascular approach depending on the individual AVM angioarchitecture. This review article gives examples of pathomechanisms and angioarchitectures that are amenable to this kind of treatment strategy.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Radiosurgery as a potential treatment modality for brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM) has 60% to 90% obliteration rates. OBJECTIVE: To test whether AVM angioarchitecture determines obliteration rate after radiosurgery. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of 139 patients with AVM who underwent radiosurgery. Multiple angioarchitectural characteristics were reviewed on conventional angiogram on the day of radiosurgery: enlargement of feeding arteries, flow-related or intranidal aneurysms, perinidal angiogenesis, arteriovenous transit time, nidus type, venous ectasia, focal pouches, venous rerouting, and presence of a pseudophlebitic pattern. The radiation plan was reviewed for nidus volume and eloquence of AVM location. A chart review was performed to determine clinical presentation and previous treatment. Outcome was dichotomized into complete/incomplete obliteration, and various statistics were performed, examining whether outcome status was associated with the investigated factors. RESULTS: Marginal dose ranged from 15 to 25 Gy (mean, 18.8 Gy), with lower doses prescribed in eloquent locations. Sizes of AVMs ranged from 0.08 to 21cm3 (mean, 3.78 ± 4.19 cm3). Complete AVM obliteration was achieved in 92 patients (66%) and was related to these independent factors: noneloquent location (odds ratio [OR], 3.20), size (OR, 0.88), low flow (OR, 3.47), no or mild arterial enlargement (OR, 3.32), and absence of perinidal angiogenesis (OR, 2.61). Concerning the 3 last angioarchitectural characteristics, if no or only a single factor was present in an individual patient (n = 92 patients), obliteration was observed in 74 (80%); if 2 or 3 factors were present (n = 47), obliteration was observed in 18 patients (38%; OR, 6.62). CONCLUSION: Angioarchitectural factors that indicate high flow are associated with a lower rate of AVM obliteration after radiosurgery.

Vascular injury of the head and neck region is a rare and often life-threatening complication of head or neck trauma and is due to two major pathomechanisms: penetrating or blunt trauma. Both the arterial and the venous site of the CNS vasculature can be involved, the latter one being often overlooked. Concerning arterial lesions, depending on how many layers of the arterial vessel are affected and on the spatial relationship to adjacent structures, dissections, false aneurysms or arteriovenous fistulae may develop. On the venous side, dural tears, compressive effects on pial veins and a deranged clotting system may lead to delayed venous thrombosis. In this review we describe clinical and imaging findings, as well as diagnostic and treatment strategies in these lesions.

We report a unique case of cobblestone complex using post-mortem MR and diffusion tensor imaging to assess the laminar organization of the fetal cerebrum. The imaging findings were correlated with autopsy findings. Abnormal cortical development in cobblestone complex resulted in disruption of normal laminar organization of the fetal brain, which was seen as interruption and nodularity of the high-signal T1 cortical band with increased anisotropy and medium diffusivity extending beyond the cortical band into the cerebral mantle on post-mortem MR and diffusion tensor imaging.

The aim of this study is to report the authors’ initial clinical experience of a 320-detector row computed tomography (CT) scanner in cerebrovascular disorders. Volumetric CT using the full 160-mm width of the 320 detector rows enables full brain coverage in a single rotation that allows for combined time-resolved whole-brain perfusion and four-dimensional CT angiography (CTA). The protocol for the combined dynamic CTA and CT perfusion (CTP) is presented, and its potential applications in stroke, stenoocclusive disease, arteriovenous malformations and dural shunts are reviewed based on clinical examples. The combined CTA/CTP data can provide visualization of dynamic flow and perfusion as well as motion of an entire volume at very short time intervals which is of importance in a variety of pathologies with altered cerebral hemodynamics. The broad coverage enabled by 320 detector rows offers z-axis coverage allowing for whole-brain perfusion and subtracted dynamic angiography of the entire intracranial circulation. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, die eigene klinische Erfahrung mit einem 320-Zeilen-Computertomographen (CT) bei zerebrovaskulären Erkrankungen zu präsentieren. Die Detektorbreite von 16 cm ermöglicht die Erfassung des gesamten Schädels mit nur einer Rotation, ohne dass eine Patienten- oder Gantrybewegung durchgeführt werden muss. Dies ermöglicht zeitaufgelöste CT-Angiographien (CTA) und CT-Perfusion (CTP). In dieser Arbeit wird ein CT-Protokoll präsentiert, mit dem nach nur einer Kontrastmittelapplikation sowohl CTA- als auch CTP-Daten rekonstruiert werden können. Anwendungen für dieses Protokoll sind der akute Schlaganfall, stenookklusive Erkrankungen sowie die prätherapeutische Abklärung und Verlaufskontrolle arteriovenöser Malformationen und Fisteln (sowohl in der Erstdiagnose wie auch bei Verlaufskontrollen). Im Rahmen von Patientenbeschreibungen werden einige der klinischen Applikationen dieses Protokolls vorgestellt. Die kombinierte Akquisition von CTA- und CTP-Daten kann nicht nur die Dynamik der Hirndurchblutung darstellen, sondern ist auch in der Lage, Bewegungen des untersuchten Volumens zu visualisieren. Durch Abbildung des gesamten Hirnvolumens in nur einer Rotation ergibt sich eine Vielzahl von klinischen Applikationen.