Key Points
- The 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology was held April 29–May 3, 2023, in Chicago.
- The meeting included three focused ultrasound presentations and one scientific abstract.
- We thank Kazim Narsinh, MD, a neurointerventional radiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, for assisting with this report.
The 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR), “Transforming the Future of Neuroradiology,” was held April 29–May 3, 2023, in Chicago. The hybrid, live streamed meeting was designed to provide attendees with opportunities to learn the most up-to-date, best practices in neuroradiology through invited lectures, oral and electronic research presentations, and exhibits.
The April 30 “Innovations in Image-Guided Therapeutics” session included the following focused ultrasound presentations:
- Kazim Narsinh, MD, a neurointerventional radiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, presented “Image-Guided Neuro-Oncologic Interventions: Focused Ultrasound and Intra-Arterial Therapy,” where he discussed treatment for brain tumors such as glioma, glioblastoma, meningioma, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, hemangioblastoma, paraganglioma, and others.
- Timothy Kaufmann, MD, MS, a neuroradiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, presented “Functional Neurosurgery for Movement Disorders: Focused Ultrasound & Deep Brain Stimulation.” In this talk, Dr. Kaufmann provided a brief overview of Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia then described how deep brain stimulation and focused ultrasound were being used to treat these movement disorders in medication refractory patients. He discussed anatomic treatment targeting and visualization for both treatment modalities.
- Lubdha M. Shah, MD, a neuroradiologist and director of spine imaging at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT, presented “Focused Ultrasound for Back Problems.” Dr. Shah discussed various investigations using focused ultrasound for spine-related pain. These involve not only ablation but also neuromodulation of pain-generating targets in the spine and hold great promise for noninvasive treatment of pain.
“My plenary talk on focused ultrasound and neuro-oncology was very well received and generated an enthusiastic response,” said Dr. Narsinh, who is studying drug delivery to the brain. “In the future, our focused ultrasound working group, formed with the assistance of Drs. Bhavya Shah, Timothy Kaufmann, Jody Tanabe, Max Wintermark, and other pre-eminent thought leaders will work together to catalyze effective multi-institutional collaboration.”
Dr. Narsinh added, “The neuroradiology community is poised to work effectively with neurosurgeons, neurologists, psychiatrists, and other physicians – and their patients – to safely and effectively expand access to this incredible technology.”
Scientific Abstract
Dr. Bhavya Shah’s lab at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) is conducting clinical and research studies on the optimal use of transcranial focused ultrasound for a variety of disorders. Razia Sultana, DVM, MS, PhD, Darren Monivann Imphean, MD, Akshay Parchure, MD, and Bhavya Shah, MD, presented a scientific abstract titled “Nitrous Oxide Enhances MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound–Mediated Blood Brain Barrier Opening.” Dr. Sultana received a David M. Yousem Research Fellow Award and was also a recipient of an ASNR 2023 Member in Training Travel Award.
The on-demand content from this meeting is available for purchase. The Foundation thanks Dr. Narsinh for his assistance writing this meeting report.