All you need to know about Neurointervention

The Neuro department in Batra hospital, Delhi, is one of the top centres for state-of-the-art facility treating neurological disorder. Our Neurology and Neurointervention team has achieved great advancements in the field of Neurological operations and treatments at an astounding pace and with an overwhelming success rate in the last few years.

Overview

Neuro Intervention refers to a treatment approach being used in certain conditions that occur within the vessels of the brain or within the spinal cavity. They are recommended over various invasive procedures which require opening of the skull and exposing the spinal column because these procedures offer minimally invasive treatment for the head, neck, and spine and can be performed through very small incisions in the body by means of a catheter.

The Neurointervention team comprises various multi-disciplinary specialists from the field of Interventional Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neuro-interventional Radiology. These specialists work in accordance with each other to carry out the procedure.

 

Conditions treated

The most common conditions treated with neurointervention procedures are as follows:

1. Brain clot removal (thrombectomy) in stroke (paralysis)
2. Brain intraarterial thrombolysis
3. Carotid artery stenosis
4. Brain aneurysms
5. Fistulas of the brain and spine
6. AVM embolization

Apart from these, various other conditions treated are:

1. Vertebral artery disease
2. Cortical venous thrombosis
3. Compression fractures
4. Intracranial artery stenosis
5. Transient Ischemic Attack
6. Venous diseases of the head and neck
7. PIVD
8. Disc herniation
9. Spinal stenosis
10. Facet arthritis

 

Procedure Details

Neurointervention procedures make use of a small, tiny incision (few milimeters) in the skin instead of more invasive surgical procedures that require opening the skull or exposing the spinal column.

Through those small incisions, a catheter is inserted via the blood vessels to the target areas in the brain or spine. By means of imaging technology sent through the catheter, neuro-intervention specialists can visualize access and treat brain and spine issues, either with medical devices or medication.

 

Techniques used

1. Coil Embolization: Mainly used in the treatment of artery aneurysms. It involves the insertion of a very thin wire or coil to obstruct blood flow to an area.
2. Stenting: It comprises of insertion of a balloon or tiny metal tube called a stent to open a narrowed vessel or artery.
3. Flow divertor: With this innovative new technique, by deploying a stent like device across the aneurysm neck, blood flow to the aneurysm is diverted and complete effective occlusion of aneurysm possible.
4. Aneurysm intrasaccular flow disruption device: A new paradigm for treatment of primarily bifurcation aneurysm.  
5. Angioplasty: Procedure that determines the amount of blood flow in the neck and vessels of the brain to find out whether the vessels are diseased, narrowed, enlarged or blocked.
6. Thrombectomy: It involves the removal of a blood clot under image guidance. A catheter is passed through an artery in the patient’s groin to the obstructed artery in the brain. A device at the end of the catheter attaches to the clot, and the neurologist removes the trapped clot and blood flow to the area of the brain resumes within minutes. Afterwards, brain cells are no longer deprived of oxygen. Additional catheter thrombolysis is also required, a procedure in which clot-dissolving medication is delivered to the clot under X-ray imaging.

 

Benefits

1. Comparatively safe and less risky
2. Quick recovery
3. Smaller incisions
4. Less painful

 

Risks

1. Bleeding
2. Damage to the blood vessel (rarely)
3. Scar tissue formation
4. The allergic reaction toward dye or medications used in the procedure
5. Re-narrowing of the artery

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