ABSTRACT
Objective Observing the feasibility of acute endovascular treatment for patients with symptomatic anterior intracranial atherosclerotic severe stenosis.Method From Jun 2019 to Jun 2023,30 symptomatic anterior intracranial atherosclerotic severe stenosis cases were retrospectively collected in the Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine to evaluate the risk stratification score and explore the safety and effectiveness of acute(≤72.0h)endovascular treatment.Endovascular treatment includes balloon dilation+self-expanding stent placement,balloon-mounted stent placement,and balloon dilation.From the clinical experience,the risk stratification score was based on the ABCD3-I score for transient ischemic attacks(TIA)and additional evaluation of cerebral watershed infarction to identify the risk of stroke progression or recurrence in acute stage of symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis.The score of 0-3 was defined as low-risk,4-7 as medium risk,and 8-13 as high-risk.The successful revascularization of blood flow is determined based on the residual stenosis≤50％and the extended thrombolysis in cerebral infarction(eTICI)＞2c.The information of patient receiving endovascular treatment was recorded,including age,sex,risk factors of cerebrovascular disease(hypertension,diabetes,hyperlipidemia,hyperhomocysteinemia,drinking history,smoking history),onset data(time from onset to endovascular treatment,symptoms,progression),diseased vessels,risk stratification score,National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)score before and 90 days after surgery,modified Rankin scale(mRS)score 90 days after surgery,intraoperative cerebrovascular events(intracranial hemorrhage,occlusion of responsible vessels),and postoperative cerebrovascular events 90 days after surgery(intracranial hemorrhage,cerebral infarction,TIA and in-stent restenosis)and deaths.Results Among 30 patients with symptomatic anterior intracranial atherosclerotic severe stenosis,3 patients were excluded from the time interval between onset and endovascular treatment＞72.0 hours,1 patient needed long-term anticoagulant drugs due to other diseases,1 patient lost follow-up,3 patients coexisted with other cardiogenic cerebral embolism diseases,4 patients with non-atherosclerotic arterial stenosis,and 7 patients refused emergency endovascular treatment.11 patients were finally included.(1)All 11 patients were successfully treated with endovascular treatment,and 7 were males;age ranged from 52 to 76 years old,with a median age of 64 years old;there were 9 cases with hypertension,3 cases diabetes,7 cases hyperlipidemia,2 cases hyperhomocysteinemia(only 9cases performed the examination),2cases smoking history,1 case drinking history;time from onset to endovascular treatment is 4.0-72.0 h,with a median time of 12.0 h;there were 3 and 8 cases of infarction in the left and right hemispheres,respectively,with 4,3,and 2 cases accompanied with anterior-posterior watershed,medial watershed,and anlerior-medial-posterior watershed infarctions,and 1 case accompanied by posterior-medial,anterior-medial watershed infarctions.(2)Among the 1 1 patients,the risk stratification score was 10-13 points,with a median score of 11 points;preoperative NIHSS score ranged 0-11 points,with a median score of 7 points.(3)Among the 1 1 patients,10 lesions located in the middle cerebral artery and 1 in the C7 segment of the internal carotid artery;the preoperative stenosis rate was 70％to 99％,with a median stenosis rate of 86％;preoperative eTICI grading was 2a in 7 cases and 2b50 in 4 cases(with slow distal blood flow);9 cases received balloon dilation and self-expanding stent placement,1 case received balloon-mounted stent placement,and 1 case received balloon dilation treatment;the postoperative stenosis rate is 10％to 20％,with a median stenosis rate of 15％;there were 3 cases with postoperative eTICI grade 2c and 8 cases with grade 3.(4)Among the 11 patients,one experienced intracranial hemorrhage on the first day after surgery and one had a new cerebral infarction on the third day after surgery.Eight patients were followed up by imaging 90days after surgery,demonstrating 2 cases of in-stent restenosis;90 days post-surgery,NIHSS score was 0-20 points,with a median score of 2 points;after 90 days of surgery,the mRS score was 0-4 points,with a median score of 1 point.There were 8 patients with mRS score ≤ 2 and no death events occurred.Conclusions Preliminary analysis shows that acute endovascular treatment for symptomatic anterior intracranial atherosclerotic severe stenosis has certain effectiveness,but the safety needs to be further validated.The screening of high-risk patients using risk stratification scores still requires further exploration through large sample and multicenter studies.