Hot off the #FOAMed Press!

Haris Kamal, MD1

@hariskamalmd
Neuroendovascular Surgery Fellow
Westchester Medical Center at New York Medical College

Katarina Dakay, MD1

@katarinadakay
Neuroendovascular Surgery Fellow
Westchester Medical Center at New York Medical College

#FOAMed (Free Open Access Medical Education) is a disruptive innovation in the world of medical education that has spontaneously emerged from the myriads of open access medical education resources being distributed on #SoMe (Social Media). FOAMed encompasses the passion of educators who believe in freely accessible content for lifelong learning and open discussion. 

As everyone has probably experienced, social media platforms have become a major player in today’s society both as a means of collaborating, networking and information sharing. It has also become the best way to stay on top of the latest, most relevant articles/studies as well as get quick opinions from experts in the field. Here we will be bringing up some of the most enlightening tweets and examples of how twitter enhanced our knowledge for the same. This is a short collection of a few tweets to begin with since the list is exhaustive!

The FDA-cleared RIST catheter is a guide catheter with a longer hydrophilic segment, designed specifically for trans-radial interventions. This excellent video shows it in action, utilized for a patient with symptomatic ICA stenosis.

Though it’s familiar to many of us that use perfusion imaging, this case report nicely illustrates how CTP core in patients with ICA terminus occlusion can be spuriously overestimated.

This excellent article details the variants, branches of the MCA and their relevance to neuroendovascular surgery – a must read!

While we’re on the topic of MCA variants, here’s an interesting congenital one that can be mistaken for Moyamoya – in this case, due to aberrant embryological of the MCA, the M1 is replaced by a plexiform network of small vessels development

Know your arteries and their real time visualization!

This poll shows the practice variance regarding heparinization in transradial angiography. At our center, we routinely administer 2000 U intra-arterially to prevent radial artery occlusion, for diagnostic procedures and a variably higher dose for neurointerventional procedures.

While new technologies have greatly expanded the treatment options for patients with SAH, sometimes it’s important to remember the basic things that greatly impact patient outcome.

Check out the complex vascular anatomy of the Thalamus!

#GTFVO has a new meaning!

#Pediatric thrombectomies – one of the most unfortunate yet probably the most gratifying of all stroke interventions.

Easy to remember DAVF classification pictorial

Smaller aneurysms do rupture, look at the parent vessel size, ratio, inflow angle, branch angle!

 #Neuroanatomical variations are always fascinating, variation is the norm!

Not only does EVT in AIS improve outcomes, in this study even among large ischemic cores (ASPECTS <6), EVT proved to have higher Quality Adjusted Life Years and cost effectiveness.

Interesting poll! While cardiologists may have shown us the way on radial access, distal radial access doesn’t seem too hot amongst them in this poll, while Neurointervention seems to have adapted to the distal access more readily.

#Stentectomy Yikes! Never a dull moment in neuroendovascular!

There you go,  Evidence based medicine – Medical Twitter is good for health!

Interesting to see the different practices for the same clinical situation