Higher dose intra-arterial milrinone and intra-arterial combined milrinone-nimodipine infusion as a rescue therapy for refractory cerebral vasospasm.

Background Cerebral vasospasm (CV) is a major cause of delayed morbidity and mortality in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Various cerebral protectants have been tested in patients with aneurysmal SAH. We aimed to research the success rate of treatment of CV via intra-arterial milrinone injection and aggressive pharmacological therapy for refractory CV. Methods A total of 25 consecutive patients who received intra-arterial milrinone and nimodipine treatment for CV following SAH between 2014 and 2017 were included in the study. Patients who underwent surgical clipping were excluded. Refractory vasospasm was defined as patients with CV refractory to therapies requiring ≥3 endovascular interventions. Overall, six patients had refractory CV. Long-term neurological outcome was assessed 6-18 months after SAH using a modified Rankin score and Barthel index. Results The median modified Rankin scores were 1 (min: 0, max: 3) and Barthel index scores were 85 (min: 70, max: 100) From each vasospastic territory maximal 10-16 mg milrinone was given to patients; a maximum of 24 mg milrinone was given to each patient in a session and a maximum of 42 mg milrinone was given to a patient in a day. Both milrinone and nimodipine were given to three patients. There was a large vessel diameter increase after milrinone and nimodipine injections. No patient died due to CV; only one patient had motor dysfunction on the right lower extremity. Conclusion Higher doses of milrinone can be used effectively to control refractory CV. For exceptional patients with refractory CV, high dose intra-arterial nimodipine and milrinone infusion can be used as a rescue therapy.

Endovascular Treatment of Wide Necked Ruptured Saccular Aneurysms with Flow-Diverter Stent.

AIM: Flow diverter (FD) stents have been used in the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. There are a few studies that report the use of these devices in ruptured blister-like aneurysms. We present 5 consecutive patients, who had ruptured intracranial wide necked or side branch close to the neck of saccular aneurysms, with no other treatment options, treated with FD stents and coil embolization. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between September 2012 and April 2015, 139 ruptured aneurysms of 133 consequent patients were treated. Of these, 48 were surgically treated aneurysms. Five of the remaining 85 aneurysms treated with FD stents. Three aneurysms were in the posterior communicating artery, and 2 were in the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA). Partial coil embolization was performed in addition to FD stents in three patients. All patients were treated in the first 3 days after bleeding. RESULTS: Technical success was 100%. Inappropriate deployment of silk stent and partial thrombus formation occurred in one patient due to the jailed micro-catheter. Inappropriate apposition of stent was corrected with a balloon, and the thrombus resolved with tirofiban, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) injections. No other complication or death occurred related to the procedure. One patient who had a giant ICA aneurysm and Fisher grade 4 bleeding died due to vasospasm, cerebral edema and sepsis on the postoperative 13 < sup > th < /sup > day. The other patients were followed-up uneventfully with computed tomography angiography (CTA) at 6th month and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) at 12 < sup > th < /sup > month. CONCLUSION: FD stents can be used in the treatment of ruptured large wide necked or side branch close to the neck of saccular aneurysms when other treatment options can not be used.

Association Between Brain Venous Drainage, Cerebral Aneurysm Formation and Aneurysm Rupture.

AIM: The brain venous drainage dominance is generally divided into three groups; right or left dominance and co-dominance. There is no study in the literature examining the link between brain venous drainage and aneurysm formation or rupture. Our aim was to evaluate the association between venous dominancy, aneurysm formation and rupture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty-six patients, who underwent cerebral digital subtraction angiography and who had cerebral aneurysms, were included in the study. The angiographic images, patient charts, and tomography images were scanned retrospectively. We recorded the aneurysm"s location, size, dome to neck ratio (D/N); the patient"s gender, age, whether there was a ruptured aneurysm, smoking history, and/or hypertension; dominance of venous drainage, aneurysm side, Fisher scores and the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) Grading System for Subarachnoid Hemorrhage scores for patients who had a ruptured aneurysm. We assessed whether or not venous drainage was associated with rupture of the aneurysm and if venous dominance was a predisposing factor for aneurysm formation like location, size, and hypertension. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant association between venous dominance and side of aneurysm; and also a statistically significant association between venous dominance and rupture. There was a positive correlation between hypertension and rupture. The most common aneurysm location was the anterior communicating artery, followed by the middle cerebral artery. CONCLUSION: Brain venous drainage dominance may be a predisposing factor for aneurysm formation and it can be predictive for rupture.