Direct percutaneous cerebral angiography in neurosurgical practice

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Vascular Medicine
• Radiology

Background:

• Cerebrovascular disease diagnosis often requires advanced imaging techniques.
• Percutaneous cerebral angiography is a key diagnostic tool.
• Patient populations undergoing angiography are frequently elderly and high-risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the risk associated with direct percutaneous cerebral angiography.
• To compare the complication rates of percutaneous retrograde brachial/carotid cerebral angiography with transfemoral cerebral angiography.
• To review the literature on cerebral angiography techniques over the past decade.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 1171 percutaneous retrograde brachial and carotid cerebral angiograms.
• Inclusion of 635 patients, with over 50% aged 60 years or older.
• Comparison of complication rates with existing literature on transfemoral cerebral angiography.

Main Results:

• Direct percutaneous cerebral angiography demonstrated a very low risk profile.
• Cerebrovascular disease symptoms were the most common indication for the procedure.
• The study provides a comparative analysis of percutaneous versus transfemoral approaches.

Conclusions:

• Direct percutaneous cerebral angiography is a safe and effective method for diagnosing cerebrovascular disease.
• The risk associated with this technique is minimal, even in elderly, high-risk patients.
• Percutaneous cerebral angiography offers a viable alternative to transfemoral angiography with comparable or lower risks.