Minimally invasive procedures. Advances in image-guided delivery of drug and cell therapies into the central nervous system.

摘要

Image-guided transparenchymal delivery of drugs is an emerging neurosurgical modality that holds the promise of delivering various agents directly across the blood-brain barrier. Potential large-scale applications for convection-enhanced delivery of drugs through the interstitial space include the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents and gene therapy vectors for the treatment of brain tumors and the delivery of neurotrophic factors and neurotransmitters for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. The related technique of direct intraparenchymal injection of cells provides a means for transplanting neural stem cells into the brain for the treatment of degenerative diseases. Significant advances in catheter design, infusion strategies, and imaging technology have brought these procedures into the mainstream of human clinical testing, with clinical applications potentially on the near horizon.