• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.705-710
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• 2001

Objective : Postoperative seizure is a well documented complication of aneurysm surgery. The purpose of the present study was to analyze risk factors for postoperative seizure. Methods : Between January 1990 and December 1996, we performed craniotomy for ruptured cerebral aneurysms in 321 patients. Among them 206 patients who could be followed up for more than 1 year(range, 1 to 4.6 years) were enrolled to present study. All patients were treated with anticonvulsants for 3 to 18 months postoperatively. We analyze the incidence of postoperative seizure in different sex and age groups, and risk factors associated with postoperative seizures following aneurysm rupture. For statistical processing chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used. Results : In the follow-up period of 1 to 4.6 years(mean, 1.8 years) postoperative seizure appeared in 18 out of 206 patients(8.7%). Mean latency between the operation and the first seizure was 6 months(range, 3 weeks to 18 months). The age of the patients has significant influence on the risk of seizure, it occurred more often in younger patients(p =0.0014). Aneurysm location in the MCA was associated with a significantly a higher risk of seizure(p = 0.042). Eight patients(19%) out of 42 patients who suffered delayed ischemic neurologic deficit(DID) developed seizure. Delayed ischemic neurologic deficit was associated with significantly a higher risk of seizure(p =0.019). Infarct and hypertension were associated with significantly a higher risk of seizure(p <0.05). pre- or postoperative intracranial hematoma(intracerebral or epidural hematoma) was associated with significantly a higher risk of seizure(p <0.0001). H-H grade, Fisher grade, Glasgow Outcome Scale of patients and timing of operation after subarachnoid hemorrhage had no significant relation with the risk of seizure. Conclusion : Factors associated with the development of postoperative seizure were middle cerebral artery aneurysm, delayed ischemic neurologic deficit, infarct on late postoperative CT scan, hypertension, pre or postoperative intracranial hematoma(intracerebral or epidural hematoma). Identification of the risk factors may be help to focus the antiepileptic drug threapy in cases prone to develop seizures. Prospective evaluation is indicated.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2001

Objective : Aneurysms of vertebral artery and its branches make up approximately 3% of all intracranial aneurysms. As the aneurysm have an intimate relationship with lower cranial nerves and medulla, surgical management of the aneurysms are one of the challenging neurosurgical problems. The authors analyzed the management outcomes for aneurysms arising from vertebral artery and its branches. Methods : At the authors' institution between May 1989 and Jan. 2000, 42 patients were treated with transcranial and endovascular surgery for aneurysms of vertebral artery and its branches. The medical records and neuroimaging studies of the patients were reviewed retrospectively. Results : Forty two patients were comprised of 28 female and 14 male patients aged from 26-80 year old(mean : 51.8). Of the 42 patients, 37 patients(88%) had subarachnoid hemorrhage. Of the 37 patients with subarachnoid hemorrahge, 35 patients(95%) were in good neurological status(Hunt Hess grade I-III), 2 patients(5%) in poor grade(H-H grade IV-V) before operation. Location of the aneurysm were 16 in vertebral artery, 12 in vertebro-PICA junction, and 14 in the peripheral PICA. Twenty nine patients were treated with transcranial surgery and 13 patients with endovascular surgery. The management outcome of the transcranial surgery was : Glasgow outcome scale(GOS) I and II ; 24, GOS III ; 2, GOS IV ; 1 and GOS V(death) ; 2. The causes of mortality related to transcranial surgery were rebleeding after failure in clipping in one and suspected brainstem infarct in one. Morbidity was attributed to vasospasm(3), lower CN palsy(7, including temporary dysfunction) and pseudomeningocele(1). The management outcome of the endovascular surgery was : Glasgow outcome scale(GOS) I-II ; 9, GOS III ; 1, GOS IV ; 1, and GOS V(death) ; 2. The causes of mortality related to endovascular surgery were sepsis from pneumonia(1) and vasospasm(1). There were one cerebellar infarct and one lateral medullary syndrome. Conclusion : Excellent and good surgical results can be expected in 80% of the patients with aneurysms of vertebral arery and its branches. The outcomes of endovascular surgery in treating vertebral artery aneurysm were satisfactory and endovascular surgery may offer a therapeutic alternative especially in vertebral dissecting aneurysm.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.94-102
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• 1997

Purpose: There have been some efforts to diagnose intracranial aneurysm through a non-invasive method using MRA, although the process may be difficult when the lesion is less than 3mm. The present study prospectively compares the results of high resolution, fast speed slice interpolation MRA and DSA thereby examing the potentiality of primary non-invasive screening test. Materials and Methods: A total of 26 cerebral aneurysm lesions from 14 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage from ruptured aneurysm (RA) and 5 patients with unruptured aneurysm(UA). In all subjects, MRA was taken to confirm the vessel of origin, definition of aneurysm neck and the relationship of the aneurysm to nearby small vessels, and the results were compared with the results of DSA. The images were obtained with 1.5T superconductive machine (Vision, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) on 4 slabs of MRA using slice interpolation. The settings include TR/TE/FA=30/6.4/25, matrix $160{\times}512$, FOV $150{\times}200$, 7minutes 42 seconds of scan time, effective thickness of 0.7 mm and an entire thickness of 102. 2mm. The images included structures from foramen magnum to A3 portion of anterior cerebral artery. MIP was used for the image analysis, and multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) technique was used in cases of intracranial aneurysm. Results: A total of 26 intracranial aneurysm lesions from 19 patients with 2 patients having 3 lesion, 3 patients having 2 lesions and the rest of 14 patients having 1 lesion each were examined. Among those, 14 were RA and 12 were UA. Eight lesions were less than 2mm in size, 9 lesions were 3-5mm, 7 were 6-9mm and 2 were larger than IOmm. On initial exams, 25 out of 26 aneurysm lesions were detected in either MRA or DSA showing 96% sensitivity. Specificity cannot be estimated since there was no true negative of false positive findings. When MRA and MPR were used concurrently for the confirmation of size and shape, the results were equivalent to those of DSA, while in the confirmation of aneurysm neck and parent vessels, the concurrent use of MRA and MPR was far superior to the sole use of either MRA or DSA. Conclusion: High resolution MRA using slice interpolation technique showed equal results as those of DSA for the detection of intracranial aneurysm, and may be used as a primary non-invasive screening test in the future.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.717-723
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• 2001

Objective : Subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) is still one of the most serious disease with high morbidity and mortality in the neurosurgical field. Clipping of the aneurysmal neck is the gold standard of the surgical treatment of aneurysmal SAH. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the postoperative angiography and to assess the risk factors related to the incomplete clipping. Materials and Methods : From July 1995 to June 1998, the pre- and postoperative angiography were performed in 50 patients among total 81 patients who have underwent the aneurysmal surgery. We reviewed the various contributing factors including age, sex, Hunt-Hess grade, Fisher grade and the premature rupture of aneurysm during operation retrospectively. Careful evaluation of pre- and postoperative angiography focusing on the size, shape, and remnant neck of the aneurysms and vasospasm was performed. According to the angiographic findings, the patients were divided into two groups ; a complete clipping group and an incomplete clipping group. The data were analyzed by using unpaired independent sample t test after F-test to compare the significance between two groups. Results : Incomplete clipping of aneurysms was found in 6(12%) patients through the evaluation of postoperative angiography. Among them, three cases were located on the middle cerebral artery territory. Whereas the patient age, sex, Hunt-Hess grade, and Fisher grade were not significant(p>0.05), an intraoperative premature rupture had a statistical significance(p<0.05). A severe vasospasm occurred in 24(48%) cases and one patient with anterior communicating aneurysm was reoperated due to residual sac. Conclusion : According to our experience, the surgeons' judgement is the most reliable factor in deciding the postoperative angiography. During the aneurysmal surgery, the premature rupture always disturbs a complete clipping of aneurysms. Therefore, the temporary clipping of parent arteries is considered essential for a successful clipping. We believe that the postoperative angiography has a role in decreasing the re-bleeding risk due to clip migration and an inaccurate clipping only in the selected cases.