Brain stent offers alternative to shunt for fixing potentially blinding vein narrowing

A team of interventional neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons at Johns Hopkins reports wide success with a new procedure to treat pseudotumor cerebri, a rare but potentially blinding condition marked by excessive pressure inside the skull, caused by a dangerous narrowing of a vein located at the base of the brain.

The Johns Hopkins team's latest study, to be published in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology online March 14, is believed to be the first to show how directly lowering pressure inside the vein alleviates the condition and improves vision.

The study report on 12 patients describes the team's novel use of intravascular ultrasound imaging to delicately thread an expandable metal stent, roughly two inches long and attached to a catheter, through an opening in the groin, all the way to the main blood vessels in the neck and shoulders draining fluid from the brain. The goal is to precisely position the stent across the narrowed portion of the vein, called the transverse sinus, where it expands, allowing blood to drain more freely and relieving fluid pressure in the brain. The vein narrowing, or stenosis, is considered to be the leading cause of pseudotumor cerebri. The condition earned its name, which translates to "false" tumor of the brain, because in the era before detailed brain imaging became available, surgeons used to operate on people with similar optic nerve swelling, suspecting brain tumors, yet they would find none.

Because the transverse sinus drains cerebrospinal fluid, constriction of the vessel causes fluid backup and raises intracranial pressure, which, if left untreated, can lead to permanent damage to the optic nerve, blurred vision and eventual blindness. Traditional treatments include drugs that reduce pressure and the surgical placement of a straw-like shunt between the lower spine and brain, or between the lower spine and stomach cavity to drain excess.

According to lead study investigator and Johns Hopkins interventional neuroradiologist Martin Radvany, M.D., the new, minimally invasive procedure, known as transverse sinus stenting, takes about two hours to perform, and could serve as a long-term, if not permanent fix to what he says is a vexing and growing problem, seen mostly in obese, premenopausal women between the ages of 18 and 40.

Radvany, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says the new stent procedure has the potential to supplant the current standard of care using shunts, which come with risk of infection, including meningitis, and concerns about too little or too much drainage, and the need for shunt replacements every few years.

"Our study results, if validated in more patients, give us more than an alternative to shunts and bypassing the consequences of pseudotumor cerebri," says study co-investigator and interventional neuroradiologist Philippe Gailloud, M.D. "Our latest research helps us get to the root of the problem so that we can stop and possibly prevent the vein from narrowing in the first place," says Gailloud, who is also director of interventional neuroradiology at Johns Hopkins.