REVIEW  LATEST FRONTIERS OF HEMODYNAMICS, IMAGING AND TREATMENT OF OBSTRUCTIVE VENOUS DISEASE 

Italian Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery 2018 September;25(3):273-6

DOI: 10.23736/S1824-4777.18.01354-2

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Catheter venous angiography for the evaluation of cerebral venous outflow

Alessia GIAQUINTA ¹, Clive B. BEGGS ², Massimiliano VEROUX ¹, Alessandro CAPPELLANI ¹, Ester DE MARCO ¹, Pierfrancesco VEROUX ¹ ✉

¹ Unit of Vascular Surgery and Organ Transplantation, Department of Surgery, Catania University Hospital, Catania, Italy; ² Institute for Sport, Physical Activity, and Leisure, School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

Catheter venography has been considered to be the “gold standard” in the evaluation of venous occlusive disease. Venography provides valuable information regarding stenotic areas, flow patterns, reflux, and the presence of collaterals. Many attempts have been made to evaluate the cerebral outflow and patients who may benefit from a treatment of internal jugular vein stenosis. The evidence that emptying time of contrast medium may correlate with stenotic segments gave a new chance for studies evaluating the venous outflow. The increased prevalence of extra-cranial venous flow anomalies has encouraged the use of angioplasty to treat the internal jugular vein (IJV) stenosis, with the aim of producing a clinical benefit. The need for careful evaluation of cerebral venous outflow was also driven by the increasing demand for the evaluation of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) success both hemodynamic and clinical. In recent years there has been considerable interest in the use of PTA of the IJV to treat chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency. The present review provides a brief overview on the main techniques for the evaluation of cerebral venous outflow.

KEY WORDS: Jugular veins - Pathologic constriction - Cerebral veins - Angioplasty