Intracranial venous stenting for idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: There is increasing evidence in the literature to support venous sinus stenting in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension who fail first-line therapy. Venous sinus stenting is a safe and successful technique compared with cerebrospinal fluid diversion procedures. This study examines the clinical outcomes of patients post intracranial venous stenting for intracranial hypertension across three tertiary hospitals in Western Australia. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 83 consecutive patients treated with intracranial venous stenting for IIH at three tertiary hospitals from October 2013 to March 2020. Data were collected from outpatient clinic letters, electronic discharge letters, electronic radiological imaging and procedural reports. RESULTS: 89.2% patients were able to cease Acetazolomide post stenting. 78.3% patients reported resolution of headaches. 84.3% patients demonstrated resolution of their papilloedema. 91.6% patients demonstrated improvement of their visual acuity. Compared with a recent meta-analysis by Satti and Chaudry in 2015, our results demonstrated a higher technical success rate and lower complication rates. CONCLUSION: Our study findings support the paradigm shift from CSF diversion procedures to venous sinus stenting in patients with IIH who fail first-line therapy. Venous sinus stenting has a high technical success rate and significantly lower complication rates than other invasive treatments.

Hepatic volume changes post-selective internal radiation therapy with 90 Y microspheres.

INTRODUCTION: To examine the hepatic volume changes post-selective internal radiation therapy with 90 Y microspheres. This technique has been demonstrated to be a suitable alternative to portal vein embolisation to induce hypertrophy of the future liver remnant (FLR) in patients with malignant disease of the liver preoperatively. The role of both techniques is to decrease postoperative morbidity and increase the numbers of patients eligible for surgical resection. Unlike portal vein embolisation, radioembolisation has the additional benefit of treating liver malignancy and reducing the risk of tumour progression during the hypertrophy period. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 29 patients from August 2012 to November 2016 that had right liver lobe malignant disease (primary or secondary) and underwent selective internal radiation therapy. Changes in liver volume were measured from CT or MRI before treatment and at 3, 6 and 12 months post-SIRT. RESULTS: Eighteen patients (62%) had primary liver malignancies (HCC n = 15, cholangiocarcinoma n = 3), and 11 patients (38%) had metastases (colorectal carcinoma n = 10, ampullary carcinoma n = 1). There was a mean increase in the FLR volume relative to baseline of 37.2% at 3 months (n = 25), 42.6% at 6 months (n = 19) and 63.5% at 12 months (n = 12). There was a mean decrease in whole liver volume at 12 months by -13.3%. CONCLUSION: Right liver lobe SIRT induces left liver lobe (FLR) compensatory hypertrophy. This study's data support the use of SIRT in selected patients with right liver lobe malignancy to undergo SIRT to facilitate liver resection.

Radiologic and Audiologic Findings in the Temporal Bone of Patients with CHARGE Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: CHARGE syndrome is a common congenital anomaly. Hearing loss affects 60%-90% of these children. As temporal bone computed tomography (CT) has become more sophisticated, more abnormalities of the middle and inner ear have been found. We present the detailed CT findings for children with CHARGE syndrome and the correlation of the CT findings with audiograms. METHODS: We performed a retrospective medical records review of 12 patients with CHARGE syndrome, identified between 1990-2011 at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Western Australia, who underwent temporal bone CT for evaluation of hearing loss. RESULTS: We present our findings for the 24 ears in terms of the cochlear, semicircular canal, middle ear, facial nerve, external auditory canal, venous, and jugular anomalies. The internal auditory canal was normal in 83.3% (n=20) of ears. Three (12.5%) ears had enlarged basal turns, and 4 (16.7%) each had hypoplastic and incompletely partitioned apical turns. The majority (n=13, 56.5%) of the vestibules were dysplastic. Up to 70.8% had abnormalities of the semicircular canal. The middle ear cavity was normal in 55% (n=11) of ears; however, up to 80% of the ears had some abnormality of the ossicles, and up to 70% had an abnormality of the facial nerve (7th cranial nerve) segments, especially in the labyrinthine segment. CT findings did not correlate with the audiograms. CONCLUSION: The management of children with CHARGE syndrome is complex, requiring early evaluation and close attention of the multidisciplinary team. Early identification of hearing deficits is vital for patients' linguistic development.