OBJECTIVE SPARC is a key determinant of invasion and metastasis in some tumors, such as gliomas, melanomas and prostate tumors. SPARC can change the composition and structure of the matrix and promote angiogenesis; these effects are closely related to clinical stage and the prognosis of tumors such as meningiomas. However, little is known about the expression of SPARC in intracranial aneurysms....

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease, and both coronary and intracranial atherosclerosis are common in the elderly. Unlike coronary artery disease (CAD), intracranial atherosclerotic disease can cause intracranial atherosclerotic stroke by branch occlusive disease (B-type) and coronary-type rupture of plaque (C-type). We hypothesized that plaque characteristics of intrac...

Atherosclerotic stenosis of the major intracranial arteries (intracranial internal carotid artery, middle cerebral artery, vertebral artery, basilar artery) is probably the most common cause of stroke worldwide.1 Intracranial atherosclerosis causes 30% to 50% of strokes in Asia2 and 8% to 10% of strokes in North America.3 This review focuses on the medical and endovascular treatment of atherosc...

The purpose of this study was to analyze the suitability of the cerebral vasculature of the pig regarding a revascularization procedure. In two 60 kg pigs the femoral artery was exposed and canulated for selective angiography and interventional procedures. After the angiography, the pigs were brought to the animal OR for craniotomy and analysis of the intracranial cerebral arteries and the surg...

PURPOSE To describe the vascular and nonvascular intracranial and extracranial anomalies associated with hemangiomas and vascular malformations of the face, neck, and/or chest. METHODS Seventeen patients had a physical examination and imaging studies consisting of one or more of the following: pneumoencephalography, conventional carotid and vertebral arteriography, CT, MR imaging, and MR angi...

BACKGROUND/AIM The neurological effects of internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion vary between patients. The authors investigated whether the severity of symptoms in a large group of patients with ipsilateral or/and contralateral ICA occlusion at presentation with ocular or cerebral ischaemic symptoms could be explained by patency of other extra or intracranial arteries to act as collateral pa...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The patency of intracranial perforating arteries after stent placement is unknown despite the general clinical use of intracranial arterial stenting. METHODS We deployed stainless steel stents in the abdominal aorta across the lumbar artery in eight normal rabbits in which the diameters of the abdominal arterial vessels were similar to those of human intracranial arteri...

Methods Pre-operative magnetic resonance angiography was performed on 1,367 consecutive CABG patients to assess Intracranial and extracranlal cerebral atherosclerosis. Disease severity was evaluated by atherosclerosis score, as determined by the number of steno-occluslons of cerebral arteries and the degree thereof. Post-CABG strokes (within 14 days) were classified as atherosclerotic (strokes ...

BACKGROUND Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major modifiable risk factors for atherosclerosis of the coronary and carotid arteries. Although transcranial Doppler (TCD) studies of the cerebral arteries are indicative of decreased cerebral blood flow velocities in patients with hypercholesterolemia, the number of these studies has been limited. The aim of this study was to assess the hemodynami...

Ninety-two thrombi and/or thromboemboli of cervico-cephalic arteries were confirmed histopathologically in 16 out of 22 patients with moyamoya disease. Included were 74 white thrombi mainly composed of fibrin and platelets, 9 organized thrombi and 9 mixed thrombi containing red blood cells. Thirteen microthrombi and one organized thrombus were located in the cervical arteries. Seventy-eight thr...