Minimally Invasive Surgery for Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Recent success in preliminary clinical studies evaluating various forms of minimally invasive surgery for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) has renewed interest in the surgical treatment of this disease process. RECENT FINDINGS: In December of 2016, phase 2 of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Plus Rt-PA for ICH Evacuation (MISTIE) study demonstrated that this form of stereotactic thrombolysis safely reduces clot burden and may improve functional outcome 6 months after injury. A smaller arm of this study, the Intraoperative Stereotactic Computer Tomography-Guided Endoscopic Surgery (ICES) study, also demonstrated feasibility and good functional outcome for endoscopic minimally invasive evacuation. Early-phase clinical studies evaluating various forms of minimally invasive surgery for intracerebral hemorrhage evacuation have shown safety and feasibility with a preliminary signal towards improved functional long-term outcome. Results from phase 3 studies addressing various minimally invasive techniques are imminent and will shape how intracerebral hemorrhage is treated.

Discrepancy in Neurologic Outcomes Following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage as a Function of Socioeconomic Class.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential health care discrepancies in patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms undergoing microsurgical intervention. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated at our tertiary referral university hospital (UH) and safety net county hospital (CH) from 2010 to 2015. We identified 73 UH patients and 58 CH patients. RESULTS: UH patients had shorter time duration between rupture and intervention (P < 0.001) and higher rates of intubation on admission (P = 0.01). Verapamil was more frequently used for clinical vasospasm in UH patients, at 0.13 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.18) treatments per patient per day versus 0.077 (95% CI, 0.047-0.12) treatments per patient per day in CH patients, though there was no difference in delayed cerebral ischemia (P = 0.15). The majority of the CH cohort was uninsured (26.3%; UH 0%) or had Medicaid (59.7%; UH 35.2%) (P < 0.001). The UH had more dispositions to home or rehabilitation centers than the CH (82% vs. 67.3%; P = 0.04). After adjusting for disease severity, hospital stay, and insurance status, CH patients were 3.73 (95% CI, 1.25-12.14) times more likely to be discharged with a poor modified Rankin Scale score and 3.08 (95% CI, 1.04-9.61) times more likely to be discharged with a poor Glasgow Outcome Scale score compared with UH patients (P = 0.02 and P = 0.04, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Limited resource availability in a safety net hospital system could be a major driving force behind the health care discrepancy identified in our ruptured cerebral aneurysm population. Reallocation of resources to supplement advanced inpatient acute care technologies and, more importantly, post-acute care environments can narrow the outcomes gap.