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PURPOSE: To evaluate eight different diagnostic criteria to help detect neoplastic invasion of laryngeal cartilage at computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective series, 111 patients with carcinoma of the larynx or hypopharynx underwent thin-section, contrast material-enhanced CT before total or partial laryngectomy. The following CT criteria were evaluated: extralaryngeal tumor, sclerosis, tumor adjacent to nonossified cartilage, serpiginous contour, erosion or lysis, obliteration of marrow space, cartilaginous blowout, and bowing. Histologic findings were correlated with findings on CT scans obtained at each level. RESULTS: Histologically, 122 of 412 cartilages were invaded. Depending on the diagnostic criteria and each specific cartilage, there was great variation in sensitivity (7%-83%) and specificity (40%-100%). Sclerosis was the most sensitive criteria in all cartilages but often corresponded to reactive inflammation in the thyroid cartilage. Extralaryngeal tumor and erosion or lysis yielded the highest specificity. Tumor adjacent to nonossified cartilage, serpiginous contour, and obliteration of marrow space were specific although not sensitive signs of invasion in the arytenoid and cricoid cartilage and were nonspecific in the thyroid cartilage. Blowout and bowing were not useful. Selection of the appropriate combination of criteria enabled an overall sensitivity of 91% (associated specificity, 68%) or an overall specificity of 79% (associated sensitivity, 82%). CONCLUSION: Detection of neoplastic cartilage invasion with CT greatly depended on the appropriate use of individual and combined CT criteria.

To determine the safety and reliability of the mechanical detachment system of a platinum coil (Detach-18) when used for neurovascular embolization.Sixty patients (21 men, 39 women; age range, 26-75 years; mean age, 56.2 years) were treated in seven centers. Ease of introduction of the coil to the microcatheter, effect of coil passage on the microcatheter shape and stability during its delivery, retrievability of the coil before and after the transition zone passed beyond the microcatheter, detachment of the coil, and effect of coil rotation on the microcatheter stability were evaluated. The detachment system itself was evaluated for premature detachment, failure of the coil to detach, detachment time, number of turns, visibility of radiopaque markers, number of coils deployed per patient, and percentage of vessel occlusion obtained. A 0.015-inch-diameter regular coil and a 0.014-inch-diameter soft coil were used.A total of 1,061 coils were used; 1,009 were detached. The number of coils deployed ranged from four to 104 (mean, 17 coils). The coils passed easily through the microcatheter. The detachment maneuver occurred within 5-25 seconds, with five to 60 turns of the introducing wire. One premature coil detachment occurred without clinical sequela; 100% occlusion of the vessel lumen was achieved in 53 patients; 80%-90%, in four; and 70%-80%, in two. There were no device-related complications.The detachment system was safe and reliable. This is a useful system for coil embolization in neurovascular diseases.

The clinical and angiographic features of 46 vertebral arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) seen during a 12-year period (45 patients) were reviewed. Fourteen patients were asymptomatic, with vertebral AVF discovered at routine clinical examination. Specific symptoms at presentation in the other patients were tinnitus (n = 21), vertigo (n = 6), neurologic deficit (n = 3), and pain (n = 2). Of the 46 AVFs, 19 (41%) were caused by trauma and 27 (59%) were spontaneous. The fistula was found at C-1 to C-2 in 21 (46%) cases, at C-2 to C-5 in five (11%), and below C-5 in 20 (44%). Thirty-four patients (35 vertebral AVFs) were treated with the endovascular technique. Embolization was performed with latex balloons filled with contrast medium in most cases. Endovascular therapy resulted in complete occlusion in 32 cases (91%) and partial occlusion in three (9%). The vertebral artery could not be preserved in three patients. Endovascular balloon treatment of vertebral AVFs is effective in occluding the shunt, avoids general anesthesia and surgical intervention, and results in minimal morbidity. Endovascular therapy is the treatment of choice for vertebral AVF.