Neuroradiologic Interventional Diagnosis and Therapy

Both the variety of neuroradiologic interventional procedures and the number of examinations performed has increased over the last 10 years. The availability of these procedures has slowly spread from a few academic centers to where they are available on a regional basis. Familiarity with indications for the study, inherent risks, and success rates are important prerequisites before considering patient referral. Equally important is dealing with a reputable interventionalist, one with whom rapport has been established. Indications can be divided anatomically and to those that are intracranial, extracranial, and spinal, as well as by general pathologic categories-atherosclerosis, arteriovenous malformation, (AVM), aneurysm, tumor (biopsy, radiation implantation, chemotherapeutic perfussion), and iatrogenic or traumatic hemorrhage. Techniques utilized are aimed at accomplishing either vascular occlusion or dilatation, injection of radiopaque dyes or chemotherapeutic agents, implantation of radioactive materials or the biopsying of tissue.