[Surgical revascularization of the brain in patients with acute ischaemic stroke]. / Khirurgicheskaia revaskuliarizatsiia golovnogo mozga u patsientov s ostrym ishemicheskim insul'tom.

AIM: The study was aimed at developing a surgical policy for patients presenting with acute ischaemic stroke induced by lesions of the intra- and extracranial arteries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The patients were enrolled into the study resulting from the current practice of the Department of Emergency Neurosurgery of the Research Institute of Emergency Medicine named after N.V. Sklifosovsky. Sampling of patients was carried out from 1st January, 2014 to 10th October, 2017, eventually comprising all those (n=160) operated on for verified pathology of brachiocephalic arteries and acute impairment of cerebral circulation. RESULTS: During the examination, 101 (63.1%) patients were found to have unilateral or bilateral stenosis of the internal carotid artery, 22 (10.7%) patients were diagnosed with occlusion of the internal carotid artery, and 36 (17.6%) had acute thrombosis of the internal carotid artery. All this was the cause of acute impairment of cerebral circulation. Also, 1 patient was found to have occlusion of the 1st segment of the vertebral artery. Depending on the type of the lesion to the internal carotid artery, the patients were subdivided into 3 groups: 1) patients with internal carotid artery stenosis who received carotid endarterectomy; 2) patients with occlusion of the internal carotid artery, subjected to creation of an extra-intracranial microanastomosis, and 3) those with thrombosis of the internal carotid artery, who depending on the degree of occlusion of the internal carotid artery and patency of the intracranial arteries underwent thrombintimectomy or an extra-intracranial microanastomosis. The indications for and contraindications to interventions were defined based on the existing symptomatic pathology of brachiocephalic arteries, the terms of acute impairment of cerebral circulation, perfusion of the brain, the risk for the development of malignant stroke and cerebral oedema, possible haemorrhagic transformation of the focus of ischaemia, the rehabilitational potential of the patient and the analysis of the current literature. The results of our work demonstrated that surgical treatment of patients in the cute period of ischaemic stroke makes it possible to improve the neurological outcomes in patients as compared with the preoperative status and is not accompanied by a high risk of surgical complications (with the haemorrhagic complication rate amounting to 0.6%). CONCLUSION: Surgical revascularization of the brain in the acute period of ischaemic stroke is a safe and effective method of treatment in patients with different haemodynamically significant damage of brachiocephalic arteries, once the patients were correctly selected for the operation.

[Assessing efficacy of carotid endarterectomy by means of intraoperative flowmetry]. / Otsenka éffektivnosti karotidnoi éndarteréktomii s pomoshch'iu intraoperatsionnoi floumetrii.

AIM: The study was aimed at determining volumetric blood flow velocity (VBFV) through the internal carotid artery (ICA) and assessing functional outcomes of treatment of patients, taking into consideration the dynamics of VBFV before and after the operation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study comprised a total of 53 patients subjected to examination of VBFV through the ICA before and after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) assessed by means of flowmetry. Neurological deficit was evaluated by means of the NIHS Scale (the M NIHSS prior to operation equalling 2.49), the degree of disability and functional independence of the patient after endured stroke was assessed by the modified Rankin Scale (the M mRS before operation amounting to 1.23) and the Rivermead Mobility Index, the severity of cognitive dysfunctions was determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination (the M MMSE before surgery equalling 24.85) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale (the M MoCA before surgery scoring 23.3). RESULTS: At the first stage of examination we determined that the VBFV after the operation increased in all patients, but the highest values of the increment were observed in groups of patients with ICA stenoses of 80-89% and 90-99%. During the second stage, it was determined that with a higher value of the VBFV after carotid endarterectomy regression of neurological deficit occurred faster (the postoperative M NIHSS scoring 2.09, with the M mRS of 1.00), the patients demonstrated higher results while undergoing the tests for intellectual ability (the postoperative MMSE and MoCA equalling 25.4 and 23.91, respectively) compared with the patients showing low values of the increment of the VBFV after the operation. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative flowmetry is a simple and efficient method of evaluating the VBFV through the ICA, an increase in volumetric blood flow (VBF) contributes to restoration of normal perfusion of the brain and creates prerequisites for more complete and faster restoration of the lost functions after ischaemic stroke (IS) and chronic cerebral ischaemia.