[Vertebral angiography of cerebellar hemangioblatoma -tumor stain, tumor circulation, CT and angiography in diagnosis(author's transl)].

Tumor "stain" and pathological tumor circulation were investigated mainly by cerebral angiography in 8 patients of cerebellar hemangioblastoma who were hospitalized in the Hokkaido University Hospital and considered to be suitable for this study. The results are presented with some speculation in this paper. (1) Tumor stain was found in all of the 8 cases. (2) Histologically all 8 cases were composed of endothelial cells with numerous vascular channels. The characteristic tumor "stain" in cerebellar hemangioblastoma was supposed to be closely related to the histologic features. (3) Review of the reports published on tumor stain indicates that tumor staining patterns have been classified into 3 to 5 types. Similar items were established in all the classifications. (4) The 8 cases were divided into 4 types: cystic type, cystic and solid type, solid type, and multiple type based on macroscopic natures of the tumor. Tumor staining patterns in angiography were also tentatively classified into types 1 to 4 according to the natures of the tumor. (5) Concerning pathological tumor circulation, (a) the time of appearance of tumor "stain" was long; (b) early filling veins in the tumor were found in 4 of the 8 cases; (c) almost all feeding arteries had one or two branches; (d) arteries originating from meningeal vessels were enlarged in 2 cases and angiography of the external carotid artery was useful for their identification; and (3) draining veins were enlarged more markedly than feeding arteries and were mostly a single superficial vein. (6) CT was performed in 4 of the 8 cases. It was compared with vertebral angiography regarding diagnostic capability in consideration of the published reports. Vertebral angiography was superior to CT in (a) verification of the presence of multiple lesions in cerebellar hemangioblastoma and (b) differential diagnosis between cerebellar astrocytoma and hemangioblastoma.