Consulting Radiologists, Ltd. NIR doctors treat 2,000th brain aneurysm

MINNEAPOLIS, April 24, 2014 — Consulting Radiologists, Ltd.’s neurointerventional radiology (NIR) team at Abbott Northwestern Hospital’s Neuroscience Institute reached a new milestone on Tuesday, April 15.

The doctors treated their 2,000th brain aneurysm since the program started at the hospital in the mid 1990s. The current team consists of three Consulting Radiologists, Ltd. (CRL) doctors: Dr. Benjamin Crandall, Dr. Josser Delgado, and Dr. Yasha Kadkhodayan.

For the 2,000th case, Dr. Yasha Kadkhodayan assisted primary physician Dr. Benjamin Crandall, with what is known as a Y-stent assisted coil embolization procedure to treat an anterior communicating artery aneurysm.

The Y-stent coil embolization is one of the most complex endovascular procedures to treat brain aneurysms. The endovascular approach was used because it results in a faster recovery for the patient and avoids complications of open brain surgery.

In this procedure, soft platinum coils are deposited into the aneurysm via a microcatheter, blocking blood flow into the aneurysm.

The neurointerventional physicians at Consulting Radiologists, Ltd. have performed over 129 endovascular procedures to treat brain aneurysms at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the past year alone. The first aneurysm was treated in 1995.

Dr. David Tubman, recently retired from this practice, was involved in treating 1,129 of these aneurysms. He stated that he feels that the success of this practice is the result of a true team approach by CRL interventional neuroradiologists, nurse practitioners, coordinators, and research associates.

“Abbott Northwestern Hospital has supplied an excellent group of radiology technologists and nurses as well as state of the art equipment. The clinical care for these often very ill patients has been a coordinated approach with Neurosurgeons and Neuro-Intensivists,” Dr. Tubman said.

He also stated that he believes that the team of Drs. Crandall, Delgado and Kadkhodayan will continue to be on the forefront of endovascular brain aneurysm treatment.

This practice is the leading center for endovascular neurological care in the upper Midwest. The program prides itself on a philosophy of continuous improvement by focusing on patient outcomes, adapting new technologies and performing clinical trials to advance the care of brain aneurysm patients.