Neurologic Complications after Particle Embolization of Intracranial Meningiomas
Martin Bendszusa,
Camelia Maria Monoranub,
Ansgar Schütza,
Ingo Nöltea,
Giles H. Vincec and
László Solymosia
a Department of Neuroradiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
b Department of Neuropathology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
c Department of Neurosurgery, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

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FIG 1. Patient 2. Peritumoral ischemia after embolization (Embospheres, 40120 µm) of a recurrent frontal meningioma.
A, Predominant blood supply by the ipsilateral middle meningeal artery was embolized with spherical particles.
B, After the procedure, the patient had left-sided hemiparesis. CT shows attenuating pooling of contrast medium in the tumor.
C, Next day, T1-weighted spin-echo MR image shows no contrast enhancement, indicating complete devascularization of the tumor.
D, DC map shows a small, hypointense rim of brain parenchyma around the meningioma, indicating cytotoxic edema (arrows). This was interpreted as particles passing into the surrounding brain tissue via leptomeningeal collaterals.
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FIG 2. Patient 11. Subarachnoid and intratumoral hemorrhage during embolization (Embospheres, 100300 µm) of a right frontal-convexity meningioma.
A and B, Images show blood supply by the ipsilateral middle meningeal artery (A), which was subsequently devascularized with particles, and leptomeningeal branches of the middle cerebral artery (B).
C and D, At the end of the procedure, patient had sudden-onset headache. Angiograms show subarachnoid extravasation of contrast medium (arrows in C). Control run in the internal carotid artery (D) shows disappearance of the leptomeningeal supply, indicating complete tumor devascularization.
E, Postprocedural CT shows intratumoral and subarachnoid hemorrhage. At surgery, bleeding from intratumoral vessels were slight; the fresh intratumoral clot and tumor were easily removed. The patient recovered completely.
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FIG 3. Patient 12. An 81-year-old woman with fatal subdural, subarachnoid, and intratumoral hemorrhages after embolization (Bead Block,100300 µm).
A and B, Embolization of a large, right temporal meningioma with a predominant middle meningeal arterial supply.
C, Ipsilateral middle meningeal artery was superselectively probed and embolized with spherical particles.
D, Procedure was abandoned after the application of one vial because the patient had back pain. Control image reveals marked tumoral devascularization.
E and F, Afterward, the patient had no new neurologic symptoms, but 2 hours later, she was comatose with fixed, dilated pupils. CT shows extensive subdural (solid arrows), subarachnoid (dotted arrow) and intratumoral hemorrhage. Because of her age and clinical state, she did not undergo surgery and died the next day.
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FIG 4. Representative histologic findings after periprocedural hemorrhage.
A, Patient 8. Section shows massive iron deposition (blue) indicating previous intratumoral hemorrhage (solid arrows) around acute hemorrhage (brown, dotted arrows) (hematoxylin-eosin and Prussian blue, original magnification x8).
B and C, Patient 11. Pathologic vessels with variable wall thickness were seen in four of five patients (B, hematoxylin-eosin, original magnification x20). In some areas, the wall is atypically thin relative to the lumen (arrows in B). These vessels were positive for actin, indicating arteries (C, original magnification x50). Similar vessels, also filled with particles, were seen in other patients with hemorrhage.
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