Use of the GDC crescent for embolization of tumors fed by cavernous and petrous branches of the internal carotid artery. Technical note.

This report presents two cases of hypervascular tumor in which the cavernous and petrous internal carotid artery feeding vessels were successfully occluded using a new endovascular device, the crescent-shaped platinum Guglielmi detachable coil (GDC). With this new embolic agent the risk of unwanted embolization of normal intracranial arteries was significantly reduced. The GDC "crescent" seems particularly useful when distal, superselective, and controllable occlusion of small arterial feeding vessels is the goal of the treatment.