Pierre Lasjaunias: Innovative neuroradiologist

Although Pierre Lasjaunias, head of Neurosciences and Neuroradiology at Bicêtre Hospital in Paris since 1998, advanced knowledge in a wide range of vascular abnormalities, perhaps his greatest contribution was in the management of young babies with an abnormality often referred to as a vein of Galen malformation, in which the arteries communicate directly to the deep venous system.

This had been untreatable and often led to the death of babies and young children or left them seriously disabled. The use of catheters in injecting these abnormal vessels with an agent to seal them off could restore patterns of flow back towards normality. Others had already begun to explore the therapeutic implications of this technique, but Lasjaunias made it an art form. The result was that a large number of babies and children could be treated effectively and many now lead normal lives.

Born in Paris in 1948, Lasjaunias studied medicine there and began his medical life as an anatomist with a special interest in the blood supply to the brain and spinal cord. In particular, his interest focused on how the vascular system developed throughout life and changed with altered situations. One of these was the situation in which arteries, which normally supply a network of microscopic capillaries, could abnormally establish direct communication with draining veins and bypass the capillary network, so vital for the distribution of nutrients and oxygen to neural tissue.

In 1975 Lasjaunias decided to enter the field of imaging, knowing it to be a period of rapid innovation. Radiological techniques, in particular angiography, where catheters are guided into specific arterial systems, were enabling blood flow patterns to be studied as they never could before. In 1989 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy at Bicêtre.

Lasjaunias said that "A successful school does not hypertrophy, it sows its seeds elsewhere", and his involvement in Britain was significant. He was honorary consultant to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London. Great Ormond Street benefited greatly from his support, as did many British children, some of whom he was still continuing to manage with local teams up until his death. One of the last babies he treated in Paris before his death was British.

Pierre Lasjaunias was inventive, curious and innovative. His exacting standards inspired his pupils to achieve the highest possible standards of which they were capable. He was endlessly active, always teaching and sharing his experience with others. Charismatic and caring about his patients, he always kept the small gifts and drawings that the children brought him.

Not only was Lasjaunias clinically very active, but also wrote prodigiously and co-authored with Alex Berenstein (of Beth Israel Hospital, New York) and Karel ter Brugge (of Toronto Western Hospital) the seminal text Surgical Neuroangiography (in five volumes, 1987-92). With Karel Ter Brugge, he wrote Vascular Diseases in Neonates, Infants and Children (1997).

In 1983 Lasjaunias founded the European Course in Neuroradiology and was a founding member of the World Federation of Therapeutic Interventional Neuroradiology of which he was president-elect for the coming year. He created the International Master's Degree for Interventional Neuroradiology and many interventional neuroradiologists from the UK have benefited from his teaching.

Wendy Taylor

Pierre Lasjaunias, interventional neuroradiologist: born Paris 15 July 1948; Professor of Anatomy, Bicêtre Hospital, Paris 1989-2008, Head of Vascular Neuroradiology 1998-2008; married (three daughters); died Zurich 1 July 2008.