The Valley Hospital’s Neuroscience Center of Excellence has added a significant advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of stroke, brain aneurysms, brain and neck tumors, and other neurological conditions with the acquisition of a state-of-the-art neurointerventional biplane angiography system.
The biplane system produces highly detailed three-dimensional views of blood vessels leading to the brain and deep within the brain and their relationship to the tissues of the head and neck. The system is housed within a specially designed hybrid operating suite. Valley is the first hospital in Bergen and Passaic counties to offer the neurointerventional biplane system.
"The biplane represents a giant leap in helping physicians diagnosis neurological abnormalities and then treat them with minimally invasive endovascular procedures, which entail the use of special instruments threaded inside the blood vessels of the brain and neck," says endovascular neurosurgeon Sean D. Lavine, M.D., Director of Neurointerventional Services. "The advantage of a hybrid room is that it can easily be transformed for ‘open’ neurosurgical procedures if the need arises without moving the patient and scheduling additional surgery and anesthesia."
Valley’s biplane system produces images simultaneously from two regions of the patient’s head, from front to back and from side to side. This reduces the amount of contrast material required, improves visualization for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and shortens the time it takes to complete a neurological angiogram.
The system also includes software for CT scanning the area if additional information about the brain and surrounding tissue is needed to plan treatment. The images produced by the biplane system aid physicians in performing neurointerventional procedures such as clot removal, aneurysm repair, and the treatment of arteriovenous malformations, carotid artery blockages, brain and neck tumors, intracranial hemorrhages, spinal compression fractures, and refractory epistaxis (severe nosebleed).
For many patients, an endovascular procedure can replace an open procedure, resulting in a shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery time, reduced pain, and less risk of complications.