The Neurovascular Research and Education Fund UK

In the UK, Dr J J Bhattacharya has set up the Neurovascular Research and Education Fund.

Only two centres in the UK treat vein of Galen malformations: the Royal Hospital for Sick Children & Queen Mother's Maternity Hospital, Glasgow and Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. Dr J J Bhattacharya and his colleagues, who work at Great Ormond Street Hospital, treat abnormalities of the blood vessels of the brain, mainly in adults but also in babies and children in very rare cases.

The Neurovascular Research and Education Fund supports research and audits and enables educational activities related to blood vessels of the brain. For vein of Galen malformations this involves developing a database to track the course, treatment and outcomes of children with vein of Galen malformations.

The Fund has started a project looking at the early formation of the vein of Galen. If it is possible to identify the time period when the vein of Galen develops embryologically, it could help in the search for possible precipitating events.

The centre with the largest experience worldwide in treating babies with vein of Galen malformation is at the Kremlin–Bicetre Hospital in Paris. The Fund aims to assist staff of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children & Queen Mothers Maternity Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital visiting the unit at Kremlin–Bicetre Hospital to gain additional experience.

Dr Bhattacharya has allowed us to make available a fairly recent article (2003) written for the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry summarising the treatment of vein of Galen malformations. Download the paper as a pdf (requires Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded this link).