Pre-operative endovascular embolization of a cerebellar haemangioblastoma

ABSTRACT

To present an interesting case of pre-operative embolization of a cerebellar haemangioblastoma. A 36-year-old male presented with gradual, progressive headache and a positive family history of von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. MRI of the brain revealed a right cerebellar solid mass and cerebral angiography demonstrated its extensive hypervascular nature. The mass was embolized with polyvinyl alcohol prior to surgical resection, which resulted in improvement of the patient's symptoms. Pre-operative embolization of a haemangioblastoma is a useful procedure that can potentially decrease the morbidity and mortality of its surgical resection