Indocyanin green videoangiography study of hemangioblastomas.

OBJECTIVE

We present herein the intraoperative indocyanin green videoangiography (ICGVAG) findings for three cases of cerebellar hemangioblastoma (HB).

METHODS

Cerebellar HB was detected in three patients presenting with symptoms of vertigo and/or headaches and diagnosed on the basis of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cerebral angiographic findings. Preoperative embolization of the tumor feeding artery was not performed in any of the patients. None of the patients underwent any procedure prior to ICGVAG that would affect the ICG findings, such as perilesional hemostatic coagulation or ablation. In each patient, it was possible to judge the approximate location of the tumor in relation to the brain surface and to distinguish the feeding and draining vessels. Following resection of the tumor, ICGVAG images confirmed that the mural nodule had been eliminated. None of the patients required blood transfusion, either during or after the surgery. For each patient, the lesion was pathologically confirmed as HB, postoperative contrast-enhanced MRI confirmed the absence of residual tumor, and diffusion-weighted MRI revealed no ischemic changes.

RESULTS

Differentiation of feeding and draining vessels in the region of the lesion is particularly important for successful surgical removal of HB. In the present three patients, ICGVAG findings enabled easy vascular differentiation and were also useful for confirming that there was no residual tumor. Indocyanin green videoangiography was concluded to be useful for safe resection of HB.