Intraoperative Imaging for Vascular Lesions

Neurovascular surgery is a broad and challenging, yet exciting field within neurologic surgery. The neurovascular surgeon must be meticulous; because the brain and spinal cord are unforgiving to ischemic insults. Along with the pressures of this demanding subspecialty comes the potential to help patients recover from potentially devastating pathology to go on and lead normal, healthy lives. Several intraoperative imaging modalities are available to help maximize treatment success while reducing risk. This article reviews each of these modalities, including digital subtraction angiography, fluorescence angiography, Doppler ultrasonography, laser Doppler, laser speckle contrast imaging, neuronavigation, and neuroendoscopy.