Fusion Image Guidance for Supra-Aortic Vessel Catheterization in Neurointerventions: A Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Endovascular navigation through tortuous vessels can be complex. Tools that can optimise this access phase need to be developed. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility of supra-aortic vessel catheterization guidance by means of live fluoroscopy fusion with MR angiography or CT angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients underwent preinterventional diagnostic MRA, and 8 patients underwent CTA. Fusion guidance was evaluated in 35 sessions of catheterization, targeting a total of 151 supra-aortic vessels. The time for MRA/CTA segmentation and fluoroscopy with MRA/CTA coregistration was recorded. The feasibility of fusion guidance was evaluated by recording the catheterizations executed by interventional neuroradiologists according to a standard technique under fluoroscopy and conventional road-mapping independent of the fusion guidance. Precision of the fusion roadmap was evaluated by measuring (on a semiquantitative 3-point scale) the maximum offset between the position of the guidewires/catheters and the vasculature on the virtual CTA/MRA images. The targeted vessels were divided in 2 groups according to their position from the level of the aortic arch. RESULTS: The average time needed for segmentation and image coregistration was 7 ± 2 minutes. The MRA/CTA virtual roadmap overlaid on live fluoroscopy was considered accurate in 84.8% (128/151) of the assessed landmarks, with a higher accuracy for the group of vessels closer to the aortic arch (92.4%; OR, 4.88; 95% CI, 1.83-11.66; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Fluoroscopy with MRA/CTA fusion guidance for supra-aortic vessel interventions is feasible. Further improvements of the technique to increase accuracy at the cervical level and further studies are needed for assessing the procedural time savings and decreasing the x-ray radiation exposure.

Early successful reperfusion after endovascular therapy reduces malignant middle cerebral artery infarction occurrence in young patients with large diffusion-weighted imaging lesions.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (MMI) is a severe complication of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). The aim of our study was to assess whether successful reperfusion after endovascular therapy (EVT) in AIS with clinical and imaging predictors of MMI decreased its occurrence. METHODS: Data were collected between January 2014 and July 2018 in a monocentric prospective AIS registry of patients treated with EVT. Patients selected were <65 years old with severe anterior circulation AIS with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score >15, baseline Diffusion-Weighted Imaging-Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score ≤ 6 and baseline diffusion-weighted imaging lesion volume >82 mL within 6 h of symptom onset. Successful reperfusion was defined as a Thrombolysis in Cerebral Ischemia score ≥ 2b. Occurrence of MMI was the primary endpoint. RESULTS: A total of 66 EVT-treated patients were included in our study. MMI occurred in 27 patients (41%). In unadjusted analysis, successful reperfusion was associated with fewer MMIs (31.8% vs. 65.0%; P = 0.015) and with more favorable outcome at 3 months (50% vs. 20%; P = 0.023). In multivariate analysis, successful reperfusion was associated with an adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) of 0.35 (0.10-1.12) for MMI and 2.77 (0.84-10.43) for 3-month favorable outcome occurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Early successful reperfusion performed in patients with AIS with clinical and imaging predictors of MMI was associated with decreased MMI occurrence. Reperfusion status might be considered in evaluating the need for craniectomy in patients with early predictors of MMI.

Two-layered susceptibility vessel sign is associated with biochemically quantified thrombus red blood cell content.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Better characterization of the thrombus could be useful to determine acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) aetiology and predict response to thrombolysis and endovascular therapy (EVT). To test the hypothesis that susceptibility vessel sign (SVS) on baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is related to red blood cell (RBC) content of AIS thrombi, the total haemoglobin contents (HbCs) of AIS thrombi retrieved by EVT from patients with or without SVS or two-layered SVS (TLSVS) were compared. METHODS: Baseline MRI of 84 anterior AIS patients was reviewed by neuro-radiologists blinded to clinical and biochemical data. Thrombi from these patients were retrieved by EVT and analysed for HbC by quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and measurement of haem concentration. RESULTS: Susceptibility vessel sign and TLSVS were respectively observed in 85.7% and 50.0% of cases. The median HbC content was 253 µg/mg thrombus (interquartile range 177-333) and the median haem content was 219 µg/mg thrombus (131-264). Thrombus HbC and haem content were highly correlated with thrombus RBC content determined by flow cytometry (r = 0.94). Thrombi from patients with TLSVS weighed more [31.1 (16.5-68.3) mg vs. 17.7 (11.7-33.3) mg; P = 0.005] and had a higher HbC content [278 (221-331) µg/mg vs. 196 (139-301) µg/mg; P = 0.010] compared to thrombi from patients without TLSVS. There was no difference in thrombus weight or HbC content according to SVS status. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that TLSVS is significantly associated with a higher thrombus weight and RBC content, as determined by quantitative assays.

Tonic spinal cord stimulation as therapeutic option in Parkinson disease with axial symptoms: Effects on walking and quality of life.

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an effective surgical therapy used for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain. Tonic SCS is safe and improve not only gait disorders, motor symptoms, but also quality of life in Parkinson patients even with dopa-resistant symptoms with or without associated deep brain stimulation.

Hemorrhagic transformation after stroke: inter- and intrarater agreement.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) is a complication of stroke that can occur spontaneously or after treatment. We aimed to assess the inter- and intrarater reliability of HT diagnosis. METHODS: Studies assessing the reliability of the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS) classification of HT or of the presence (yes/no) of HT were systematically reviewed. A total of 18 raters independently examined 30 post-thrombectomy computed tomography scans selected from the Aspiration versus STEnt-Retriever (ASTER) trial. They were asked whether there was HT (yes/no), what the ECASS classification of the particular scan (0/HI1/HI2/PH1/PH2) (HI indicates hemorrhagic infarctions and PH indicates parenchymal hematomas) was and whether they would prescribe an antiplatelet agent if it was otherwise indicated. Agreement was measured with Fleiss' and Cohen's κ statistics. RESULTS: The systematic review yielded four studies involving few (≤3) raters with heterogeneous results. In our 18-rater study, agreement for the presence of HT was moderate [κ = 0.55; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.41-0.68]. Agreement for ECASS classification was only fair for all five categories, but agreement improved to substantial (κ = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.69-0.75) after dichotomizing the ECASS classification into 0/HI1/HI2/PH1 versus PH2. The inter-rater agreement for the decision to reintroduce antiplatelet therapy was moderate for all raters, but substantial among vascular neurologists (κ = 0.70; 95% CI, 0.57-0.84). CONCLUSION: The ECASS classification may involve too many categories and the diagnosis of HT may not be easily replicable, except in the presence of a large parenchymal hematoma.

Application of the DAWN clinical imaging mismatch and DEFUSE 3 selection criteria: benefit seems similar but restrictive volume cut-offs might omit potential responders.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: An external validation of the selection criteria of diffusion-weighted imaging or computerized tomography perfusion assessment with clinical mismatch in the triage of wake-up and late-presenting strokes undergoing the Neurointervention with Trevo (DAWN) and the Endovascular Therapy Following Imaging Evaluation for Ischemic Stroke (DEFUSE3) trials was conducted in a cohort of unknown onset stroke (UOS) patients treated with thrombectomy. METHODS: A validation cohort of UOS patients was selected from a prospectively collected thrombectomy database to match the inclusion criteria of DAWN and DEFUSE 3. Patients with an initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) ≥10 were stratified according to the DAWN selection criteria. Patients ≤90 years old with an initial NIHSS ≥6 were stratified according to the DEFUSE 3 selection criteria. The proportions of patients with a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≤2 at 3 months follow-up were compared between DAWN-eligible patients and the DAWN trial thrombectomy group, and between DEFUSE 3-eligible patients and the DEFUSE 3 trial thrombectomy group. RESULTS: Of the 60/102 (59%) DAWN-eligible patients, 26 patients (43%) reached a mRS ≤2 at 3 months follow-up [versus 52/107 patients (49%) in the DAWN trial thrombectomy group; P = 0.52]. Of the 100/117 (85%) DEFUSE 3-eligible patients, 48 patients (48%) reached a mRS ≤2 at 3 months follow-up [versus 41/92 patients (45%) in the DEFUSE 3 trial thrombectomy group; P = 0.67]. Of the DAWN-ineligible and DEFUSE 3-ineligible patients who underwent thrombectomy, 38% (16/42) and 41% (7/17) of patients reached a mRS ≤2, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of the DAWN and DEFUSE 3 trials were externally validated in a UOS cohort where the trials' selection criteria identified a similar proportion of responders to thrombectomy.