[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.

[CT perfusion in patients after EICMA in the postoperative period].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of the EICMA on the circulation of the brain in patients with unilateral occlusion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) in the late postoperative period using CT perfusion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten patients with unilateral internal carotid artery occlusion and stenosis of the opposite ICA 50-60%, with a history of a single ischemic stroke were examined. All patients underwent pre-and postoperative CT angiography of the brachiocephalic and intracranial arteries and CT perfusion. We also compared the results of neurological examinations preoperatively and during the year after the intervention. RESULTS: The neurological data during the first year after surgery demonstrated an improvement of neurological status and quality of life in all patients. Preoperative CT perfusion showed the patchy decrease in the cerebral blood flow (CBF) to 18 ml/100 g/min (average of 44-56 ml/100 g/min) and increase in the mean transit time (MTT) to 7.2 s (normally less 6c) in all cases on the side of occlusion. The most susceptible to chronic ischemic changes was the frontal region, temporal and parietooccipital regions were affected to a lesser extent. Due to stenosis of the opposite ICA, minimum CBF of the cortex in the opposite hemisphere was 24 ml/100 g/min and MTT was increased to 5.6 s. Six months after the applying of EICMA, the significant improvement of CT perfusion was noted on the side of the anastomosis in all patients: an increase in CBF (at least 44 ml/100 g/min) and MTT reduction (up to 6.1s in the frontal region), as well as the "synchronization" of CBF and CBV in similar areas of the cerebral cortex of the right and left hemisphere. CONCLUSION: CT perfusion in the late postoperative period after applying EICMA in patients with unilateral ICA occlusion demonstrates not only changes of the cerebral perfusion on the side of the occlusion, but also the increased collateral blood flow of the cortex in both hemispheres, which significantly improves brain blood flow generally within 6-12 months after surgery.

[Cerebral revascularization for the treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke]. / Khirurgicheskaia revaskuliarizatsiia golovnogo mozga pri ostrom insul'te.

The effectiveness of surgical prevention of ischemic stroke has been demonstrated in several international randomized studies. Issues about the surgery time, patient selection criteria, surgery techniques remained unresolved. We have reviewed 46 publications in this field. The current vast arsenal of surgical techniques allows to conduct revascularization surgery procedures in patients with acute ischemic stroke and lesions of extra- and intracranial arteries. The benefits of early carotid endarterectomy in patients with mild stroke and transitory ischemic attacks (TIA) are undeniable fact. Necessity of urgent endarterectomy and thrombintimectomy in patients with stroke, TIA, acute inner carotid artery occlusion is a subject of current discussions. The experience in performance of these interventions has been accumulated but randomized studies are needed to verify their effectiveness. Microsurgical techniques have made it possible to perform bypass surgery and open embolectomy in situations earlier considered as incurable.

[High-flow extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery in a patient with giant right cavernous ica aneurysm].

To present the clinical case of successful extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) high-flow bypass performance. Patient, female, 51 years old, was suffered from giant cavernous aneurysm of right internal carotid artery (ICA), presented with mass effect. The EC-IC high-flow bypass using radial artery was performed between M2 segment of right middle cerebral artery and right external carotid artery. Bypass patency was confirmed by intraoperative dopplerography, postoperative digital subtraction angiography and by ultrasound examination of anasthomosis. Patient was discharged in 3 weeks after operation in satisfactory condition. The EC-IC high-flow bypass is one of effective method for cavernous aneurysm treatment, allowing excluding aneurysm from cerebral blood flow and decreasing its mass effect.

[The treatment of cerebral aneurysm in elderly patients in the acute period of subarachnoid hemorrhage].

Seven hundreds and forty-nine patients after subarachnoid hemorrhage developed as a result of the rupture of cerebral aneurysm, including 117 (15.6%) people aged 60 years and over (elderly patients) and 632 (83.4%) patients younger than 60 years old, were examined. In these groups severity of a patient's state before the surgery, presence of concomitant pathology, data of instrumental examination, outcome of the surgery were compared. The fatal outcome after the surgery was higher in elderly patients than in younger ones (17.4% versus 12.4%) that might be explained by the greater severity of their state after the development of subarachnoid hemorrhage and higher incidence of hypertensive disease and other concomitant diseases. Clinically significant angiospasm and non-resorptive hydrocephalus were observed in this group most frequently.