Confirmation of blood flow in perforating arteries using fluorescein cerebral angiography during aneurysm surgery

Object The authors performed fluorescein cerebral angiography in patients after aneurysm clip placement to confirm the patency of the parent artery, perforating artery, and other arteries around the aneurysm. Methods Twenty-three patients who underwent aneurysm surgery were studied. Aneurysms were located in the internal carotid artery in 12 patients, middle cerebral artery in six, anterior cerebral artery in three, basilar artery bifurcation in one, and junction of the vertebral artery (VA) and posterior inferior cerebellar artery in one. After aneurysm clip placement, the target arteries were illuminated using a beam from a blue light-emitting diode atop a 7-mm diameter pencil-type probe. In all patients, after intravenous administration of 5 ml of 10% fluorescein sodium, fluorescence in the vessels was clearly observed through a microscope and recorded on videotape. Results The excellent image quality and spatial resolution of the fluorescein angiography procedure facilitated intra-operative real-time ...