Intravascular Surgery in Intracranial and Cervical Regions

Intravascular surgery in intracranial and cervical regions has made a remarkable progress in this decade with advances in radiological technology such as 3D-CT and 3DDSA, improvement of catheterization system and development of new embolic materials. Aneurysm embolization using GDC, an electrically detachable coil developed by Guglielmi, is gaining increasing acceptance as a viable alternative to surgery in the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Transvenous embolization to promote fistula closure using mainly detachable coils and fibered coils is getting to be accepted as a first treatment of dural arteriovenous fistulas. Carotid stent placement is being applied increasingly to elderly or high risked cases an alternative to carotid endarterectomy with development of balloon protection system. Further advancement in this field can be expected under an adequate selection of cases and skillful hands of operators as well as improvement in devices for intravascular surgery