Abstract
This article is a historical narrative that traces the growth of neuroradiology and
interventional radiology at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences
and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. From its humble origins in the pre-CT scan era
of the mid and late 1970s, when invasive diagnostic procedures such as percutaneous
carotid angiography, myelography, pneumoencephalography (PEG) and ventriculography
were the mainstay of neuroimaging, the authors take the reader through their gradual
foray into catheter four-vessel angiography and later free-flow embolization of arteriovenous
malformations (AVMs), and finally to the use of microcatheters for selective embolization
procedures. The equipment used in those early years—fluoroscopic tilting table, roll-film
cameras, serial changers, PEG tables—provide an insight to an era with all its challenges
before the advent of digital imaging. The authors’ efforts to indigenize some of the
hardware such as metallic stents and embolization material such as hydrogel spheres
and lyophilized dura are also highlighted. The development of peripheral vascular
intervention alongside neuroradiology is also highlighted. The authors pay tribute
to an early pioneer of neuroradiology in India, Prof. Mahadevan Pillai, who was a
guiding light to them during those nascent years.
Keywords neuroimaging - vascular intervention - interventional neuroradiology
