Safety and Efficacy of Baseline Antiplatelet Treatment in Patients Undergoing Mechanical Thrombectomy for Ischemic Stroke: Antiplatelets Before Mechanical Thrombectomy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the safety and efficacy of baseline antiplatelet treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Baseline use of antiplatelet medication before MT for (AIS) may provide benefit on reperfusion and clinical outcome but could also carry an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). All consecutive patients with AIS and treated with MT with and without intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) between January 2012 and December 2019 in all centers performing MT nationwide were reviewed. Data were prospectively collected in national registries (eg, SITS-TBY and RES-Q). Primary outcome was functional independence (modified Rankin Scale 0-2) at 3 months; secondary outcome was ICH. RESULTS: Of the 4,351 patients who underwent MT, 1,750 (40%) and 666 (15%) were excluded owing to missing data from the functional independence and ICH outcome cohorts, respectively. In the functional independence cohort (n = 2,601), 771 (30%) patients received antiplatelets before MT. Favorable outcome did not differ in any antiplatelet, aspirin, and clopidogrel groups when compared with that in the no-antiplatelet group: odds ratio (OR), 1.00 (95% CI, 0.84-1.20); OR, 1.05 (95% CI, 0.86-1.27); and OR, 0.88 (95% CI, 0.55-1.41), respectively. In the ICH cohort (n = 3,685), 1095 (30%) patients received antiplatelets before MT. The rates of ICH did not increase in any treatment options (any antiplatelet, aspirin, clopidogrel, and dual antiplatelet groups) when compared with those in the no-antiplatelet group: OR, 1.03 (95% CI, 0.87-1.21); OR, 0.99 (95% CI, 0.83-1.18); OR, 1.10 (95% CI, 0.82-1.47); and OR, 1.43 (95% CI, 0.87-2.33), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Antiplatelet monotherapy before MT did not improve functional independence or increase the risk of ICH.

Importance of Delayed Reperfusions in Patients With Incomplete Thrombectomy.

BACKGROUND: There is paucity of data regarding the effects of delayed reperfusion (DR) on clinical outcomes in patients with incomplete reperfusion following mechanical thrombectomy. We hypothesized that DR has a strong association with clinical outcome in patients with incomplete reperfusion after mechanical thrombectomy (expanded Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction, 2a-2c). METHODS: Single-institution's stroke registry retrospective analysis of patients admitted from February 2015 to December 2020. DR was defined as the absence of any perfusion delay on ≈24-hour contrast-enhanced follow-up perfusion imaging, whereas persistent perfusion deficit denotes a perfusion delay corresponding to the catheter angiographic deficit directly after the intervention. The association of perfusion outcome (DR versus persistent perfusion deficit) with the occurrence of new infarcts and 90-day functional independence (modified Rankin Scale score 0-2) was evaluated using logistic regression analyses. Comparison of predictive accuracy was evaluated by calculating area under the curve for models with and without perfusion outcome. RESULTS: In 566 patients (mean age 74, 49.6% female), new infarcts in the incomplete reperfusion areas were less common in DR versus persistent perfusion deficit patients (small punctiform: 17.1% versus 25%, large confluent: 7.9% versus 63.2%; P=0.001). After adjustment for confounders, DR was a strong predictor of functional independence (adjusted odds ratio, 2.37 [95% CI 1.34-4.23]). There was a significant improvement in predictive accuracy of functional independence when perfusion outcome was added to expanded Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction alone (area under the curve 0.57 versus 0.62, P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence of DR is closely associated with tissue outcome and functional independence. DR may be an independent prognostic parameter, suggesting it as a potential outcome surrogate for medical rescue therapies.

Endovascular revascularization of vertebrobasilar tandem occlusions in comparison to isolated basilar artery occlusions: A multi-center experience.

BACKGROUND: Acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is a severe disease that is associated with an 85% mortality rate if untreated. Several studies have analyzed the use of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in the different scenarios of BAO. However, the results remain conflicting and the role of MT as standard of care for vertebrobasilar tandem occlusions (VBTO) has not been confirmed. Our goal was to assess technical feasibility, safety, and functional outcome of endovascular treatment of VBTO in comparison to isolated BAO (IBAO). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all prospectively collected patients with acute BAO from six tertiary centers between September 2016 and November 2021. Patients were subsequently divided into two groups: VBTO and IBAO. Baseline data, procedural details, and outcomes were compared between groups. RESULTS: A total of 190 patients were included, 55 presenting with a VBTO and 135 with IBAO. Successful recanalization was equally common in both groups (89.1% and 86.0%). Rates of favorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale: 0-2) were higher in patients with VBTO compared to IBAO (36.4% vs. 25.2%, p = 0.048) and mortality was lower (29.1% vs. 33.3%). However, these associations faded after adjustment for confounders (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.86, 95% CI 0.35-2.05; aOR 0.93, 95% CI 0.35-2.45). Rates of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage did not differ between the groups (VBTO: 7.3% vs. IBAO: 4.2%; p = 0.496). CONCLUSION: Endovascular treatment of VBTO is technically feasible and safe with similar rates of successful recanalization, favorable functional outcome, and mortality to those in patients with IBAO.

Diagnosis and surgical therapy of spontaneous intracranial hypotension.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is a serious medical condition caused by loss of cerebrospinal fluid at the level of the spine, which, when not treated, may cause substantial long-term disability and increase morbidity. The following video summarizes the necessary steps for successful diagnosis and treatment of SIH, starting with a brain and spine magnetic resonance imaging, followed by dynamic myelography. Because an epidural bloodpatch did not provide a lasting relief, the patient underwent surgery which demonstrated a ventral dural slit caused by an osteodiscogenic microspur. In the 1-month follow up, the patient was symptom free. This video is meant to raise awareness of SIH among clinicians in order to increase general sensitivity for this diagnosis.

Safety and Efficacy of Carotid Artery Stenting with the CGuard Double-layer Stent in Acute Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND: Double-layer stents show promising results in preventing periinterventional and postinterventional embolic events in elective settings of carotid artery stenting (CAS). We report a single-center experience with the CGuard stent in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to symptomatic internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis or occlusion with or without intracranial occlusion. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all patients who received a CGuard stent in the setting of AIS at our institution. Neuroimaging and clinical data were analyzed with the following primary endpoints: technical feasibility, acute and delayed stent occlusion or thrombosis, distal embolism, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and functional outcome at 3 months. RESULTS: In 33 patients, stenting with the CGuard was performed. Stent deployment was successful in all patients (28 with tandem occlusions, 5 with isolated ICA occlusion). Transient acute in-stent thrombus formation occurred in three patients (9%) without early stent occlusion. Delayed, asymptomatic stent occlusion was seen in 1 patient (3%) after 49 days. Asymptomatic periinterventional distal emboli occurred in 2 patients (6%), 1 patient experienced a transient ischemic attack 79 days after the procedure and 1 patient (3%) developed sICH. Favorable clinical outcome (mRS 0-2) at 3 months was achieved in 12 patients (36%) and the mortality rate was 24%. CONCLUSION: The CGuard use in emergencies was technically feasible, the safety has to be confirmed by further multicentric studies.

Benefit of Advanced 3D DSA and MRI/CT Fusion in Neurovascular Pathology.

Digital subtraction angiography provides excellent spatial and temporal resolution; however, it lacks the capability to depict the nonvascular anatomy of the brain and spinal cord.A review of the institutional database identified five patients in whom a new integrated fusion workflow of cross-sectional imaging and 3D rotational angiography (3DRA) provided important diagnostic information and assisted in treatment planning. These included two acutely ruptured brain arteriovenous malformations (AVM), a small superficial brainstem AVM after radiosurgery, a thalamic microaneurysm, and a spine AVM, and fusion was crucial for diagnosis and influenced further treatment.Fusion of 3DRA and cross-sectional imaging may help to gain a deeper understanding of neurovascular diseases. This is advantageous for planning and providing treatment and, most importantly, may harbor the potential to minimize complication rates. Integrating image fusion in the work-up of cerebrovascular diseases is likely to have a major impact on the neurovascular field in the future.

Clinical Evaluation of a Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Supporting Radiological Assessment of Hippocampal Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of quantitative reports (QReports) on the radiological assessment of hippocampal sclerosis (HS) from MRI of patients with epilepsy in a setting mimicking clinical reality. METHODS: The study included 40 patients with epilepsy, among them 20 with structural abnormalities in the mesial temporal lobe (13 with HS). Six raters blinded to the diagnosis assessed the 3T MRI in two rounds, first using MRI only and later with both MRI and the QReport. Results were evaluated using inter-rater agreement (Fleiss' kappa [Formula: see text]) and comparison with a consensus of two radiological experts derived from clinical and imaging data, including 7T MRI. RESULTS: For the primary outcome, diagnosis of HS, the mean accuracy of the raters improved from 77.5% with MRI only to 86.3% with the additional QReport (effect size [Formula: see text]). Inter-rater agreement increased from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text]. Five of the six raters reached higher accuracies, and all reported higher confidence when using the QReports. CONCLUSION: In this pre-use clinical evaluation study, we demonstrated clinical feasibility and usefulness as well as the potential impact of a previously suggested imaging biomarker for radiological assessment of HS.