Neuroendovascular techniques have evolved rapidly during the last decades
extending the range of treatment options available for neuroendovascular surgeons
and creating new applications other than those in the field of cerebrovascular
diseases. Endovascular approaches for the management of head and neck tumors date
back to the 1970s when the French surgeon Manelfe described the first pre-surgical
embolization for an intracranial meningioma. Thereafter, indications for such treatment
widened to other intracranial hypervascular tumors such as hemangiopericytomas and
hemangioblastomas or extra/intracranial neoplasms including paragangliomas and
juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas. Moreover, the possibility of reaching specific
regions of the brain via the endovascular route made intra-arterial chemotherapy for
brain tumors feasible, mitigating complications related to systemic exposure to toxic
drugs. The indications, outcomes and complications of these relatively new techniques
are discussed in depth.
Keywords: Dangerous anastomoses, embolization, endovascular, head and neck
tumors, hemangioblastomas, hemangiopericytomas, intracranial meningiomas,
juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas, paragangliomas.
