Hg. Boecherschwarz et al., PREOPERATIVE AND INTRAOPERATIVE METHODS OF CONTROLLING CEREBRAL-CIRCULATION IN GIANT ANEURYSM SURGERY, Neurosurgical review, 18(2), 1995, pp. 85-93
The surgical treatment of giant aneurysms usually requires temporary c
lipping of the aneurysmatic vessel. In planning the surgical approach
and in applying temporary clips, the surgeon must consider collateral
circulations. The functional integrity of the collateral vessels frequ
ently decides the patient's outcome. In 8 patients with internal carot
id artery giant aneurysm, measurements of blood flow velocities in the
ipsilateral middle cerebral artery were performed preoperatively with
transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) during manual occlusion of the
carotid artery at the neck. Three different perfusion patterns were es
tablished, and each collateral capacity was rated as insufficient, tem
porarily sufficient, or long-term unproblematic. Surgical strategies w
ere conceived. In one patient with giant aneurysm of the middle cerebr
al artery the temporary occlusion test was not carried out preoperativ
ely. Intraoperatively, collateral circulation was controlled using mic
rovascular Doppler sonography (MVD). In 8 cases cortical blood flow (C
oBF) was monitored by thermal diffusion flow probe and/or laser Dopple
r. Tn some cases, the complex pathological anatomy required a change i
n surgical strategy and a new MVD determination of collateral capacity
. Despite these precautions 2 patients suffered ischemia of the basal
ganglia and the white matter.