Endovascular treatments for brain attack introduction

Interventional neuroradiological treatments were practiced for the first time in 1974 when Sebinenko blocked the blood flow of a cerebral artery using a balloon catheter. This method was then expanded to aneurysm treatment but was not adopted worldwide until sufficient tools were developed for that purpose. The use of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) spread quickly worldwide after that the first stable aneurysm embolization was presented in 1991 by Guglielmi et al. The embolization was achieved by using electricity for delivering a coil inside the aneurysm. Generalized use of 3D DSA is the consequence of the remarkable improvements in accuracy done in recent years. Such technology increased safety during endovascular treatments. Therefore, interventional radiology used is not only for cerebral aneurysm treatments but also for various endovascular tools research and development, such as the creation of new treatment techniques for stenosis in carotid arteries, acute strokes and cerebral arteriovenous malformation. In this chapter, we will explain conventional and endovascular treatments for cerebrovascular diseases such as cerebral aneurysms, carotid artery stenosis, acute stroke and cerebral hemorrhage. Additionally, we will present how recently, from other minimally invasive treatments, the use of endoscopes has been adopted for neurosurgery.