Purpose: To reduce saline and heparin in continuous catheter perfusion in intraoperative cerebral angiography, a method using a syringe pump was tried.
Materials and methods: Ten patients with brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) underwent intraoperative cerebral angiography. Seven internal carotid arteries (ICAs) and six vertebral arteries (VAs) were catheterized in these patients. Continuous catheter perfusion was performed at a low rate of 3 mL/hr with saline containing 8,000 units of heparin per liter using a syringepump.
Results: Mean duration of catheter perfusion was 8.3 +/- 4.0 hrs (range, 3.0 to 15.7 hrs). Mean volume of saline was 25.0 +/- 11.9 mL (range, 9 to 47 mL) per catheter. Mean dosage of heparin was 200.0 +/- 94.9 units (range, 72 to 376 units) per catheter. No complications due to intraoperative angiography were observed in this trial.
Conclusion: Reduction of the saline volume and heparin dosage was possible in intraoperative cerebral angiography by the continuous perfusion of a small amount of high-concentration heparinized saline using a syringe pump.