[Preoperative Embolization for Cerebellopontine Angle Tumors]

Preoperative embolization of brain tumors has been reported to be useful in reducing blood loss during resection, softening the tumor, and shortening the operation time by occluding blood-rich tumor nutrient vessels. This applies to skull base tumors, which are deep and difficult to expand in the operative field. Cerebellopontine angle tumors often have the petrosal branch of the middle dural artery, ascending pharyngeal artery, meningohypophyseal trunk, and inferolateral trunk as feeding vessels. Caution is required because these blood vessels are involved in the vasa nervorum and dangerous anastomosis. Embolization of these vessels can be performed safely and effectively by guiding a small catheter as far as possible to the periphery without wedging and injecting a high dilution of Embosphere^® 500-700µm.