The Cerus contour device is a new endosaccular flow disruptor designed to treat wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms. Historically, aneurysms in this location have been treated with open surgical clipping or stent-assisted coiling, which requires the need of long-term dual antiplatelet therapy. The Cerus contour device offers a minimally invasive alternative without the need for long-term antiplatelet therapy. Montefiore is one of a handful of select hospitals in the country participating in the trial designed to study the safety and efficacy of the device. If you have any questions or potential candidates, please contact Dr. David Altschul.

Intractable migraine disorder is a serious illness that affects many young people and impacts their ability to work and participate in society. We are researching the theory that the cause of this illness is vascular in nature, due to an imbalance of the vasomotor tone of the extracranial vasculature. We are currently in the study’s first phase: recruiting patients and injecting vasodilator medications into these arteries to prove migraine headaches can be triggered. Once proved, we can then move to the next phase of the study, which will be to embolize these arteries as a potential modality for treatment.

In this study, use of the Citadel Embolization Device will be limited to a population of patients with unruptured or ruptured wide-neck aneurysms who meet all study eligibility criteria. The Citadel Embolization Device is intended to endovascularly obstruct or occlude blood flow in intracranial aneurysms. The Citadel Device is Coil-like treatment that simplifies the procedure that has shown better framing and neck coverage than Target Detachable Coil.

Drs. Celina Crisman and Benjamin Himes are working with Dr. Nitin Ohri, a radiation oncologist principle investigator, on a clinical trial to assess the benefit of pre- vs. postoperative SRS in the control of brain metastasis. Surgery and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) remain the mainstays of therapy for oligometastatic cancer to the brain. Traditionally, surgery has preceded SRS in order to establish a definitive diagnosis and reduce the size of the radiation field. However, this approach carries the possibility of seeding tumor cells in the resection cavity and CSF spaces, potentially increasing the risk of recurrence or the development of leptomeningeal disease. This randomized trial will directly answer the question of whether preoperative SRS reduces the risk of recurrence or disease spread, which will directly inform clinical practice.

Michael J. Thorpy, MD

Richard B. Lipton, MD

Richard B. Lipton, MD

Richard B. Lipton, MD

Richard B. Lipton, MD

Richard B. Lipton, MD