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Background & Purpose: High pre-treatment systolic blood pressure (SBP) levels have been associated with lower recanalization rates after endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO). We sought to evaluate the association of of pre-treatment SBP with other outcome measures after EVT including final infarct volume (FIV) and favorable outcome (FO) at three-months. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study evaluating AIS patients presenting with anterior circulation ELVO in a tertiary care stroke center during a 4-year period. Admission stroke severity was documented using NIHSS-score. Pre-treatment SBP and DBP were measured using automated cuff. Two investigators calculated the FIV using ABC/2 methodology. FO was defined as mRS score of 0-2 at 3 months. Results: Our study population consisted of 116 patients with anterior circulation ELVO (mean age 63±13 years, 51% male, median admission NIHSS-score: 17 points, IQR 14-21, median FIV: 30cm3, IQR: 8-94) who were treated with EVT. Systemic thrombolysis was administered in 75 patients (65%). A total of 38 patients (33%) achieved FO, while in-hospital and three-month mortalities were 27% and 31% respectively. Higher pre-treatment SBP was positively correlated to increased FIV (r: +0.225; p=0.020). Patients with FFO had lower pretreatment SBP (151±24mmHg vs 165±28mmHg; p= 0.010), while pretreatment SBP levels were higher in patients who died during hospitalization (169±34mmHg vs 156±24mmHg; p=0.043). A 10mmHg increment in pretreatment SBP was independently (p=0.010) associated with an increase of 12cm3 in FIV (95%CI: 3-21) in multiple linear regression models adjusting for demographics, vascular risk factors, pretreatment DBP, admission NIHSS, intravenous thrombolysis, onset to revascularization and successful revascularization. A 10mmHg increment in pretreatment SBP was independently (p=0.012) associated with a lower likelihood of FFO at three months (OR: 0.64; 95%CI: 0.45-0.91) in multiple logistic regression models adjusting for multiple confounders. Conclusion: Higher pretreatment SBP is an independent predictor of increased FIV and lower likelihood of three-month FFO in patients with ELVO who undergo EVT.

Background: Residual aneurysm after microsurgical clipping carries a risk of aneurysm growth and rupture. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) remains the standard to determine the adequacy of clipping. Intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG) angiography is increasingly utilized to confirm optimal clip positioning across the neck and to evaluate the adjacent vasculature. Objective: We evaluated the correlation between ICG and DSA in clipped intracranial aneurysms. Methods: A retrospective study of patients who underwent craniotomy and microsurgical clipping of intracranial aneurysms with ICG for 2 years. Patient characteristics, presentation details, operative reports, and pre- and postclipping angiographic images were reviewed to determine the adequacy of the clipping. Results: Forty-seven patients underwent clipping with ICG and postoperative DSA: 57 aneurysms were clipped; 23 patients (48.9%) presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Nine aneurysms demonstrated a residual on DSA not identified on ICG (residual sizes ranged from 0.5 to 4.3 mm; average size: 1.8 mm). Postoperative DSA demonstrated no branch occlusions. Conclusion: Intraoperative ICG is useful in the clipping of intracranial aneurysms to ensure a gross patency of branch vessels; however, the presence of residual aneurysms and subtle changes in flow in branch vessels is best seen by DSA. This has important clinical implications with regard to follow-up imaging and surgical/endovascular management.

Background & Purpose: The outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to basilar artery occlusion (BAO) are poor. Endovascular therapy (EVT) improves rates of recanalization. We hypothesized that good collateral patterns by pre-treatment CT Angiography (CTA) would predict favorable outcome after EVT. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients presenting with AIS due to BAO in a tertiary care stroke center during a four-year period. BAO was diagnosed by CTA in all cases, who received EVT as standard of care. Admission stroke severity was documented using NIHSS-score. Pretreatment collateral score (CS) for posterior circulation was defined as follows: 0 - no posterior communicating artery (PCOM), 1- unilateral PCOM, 2- bilateral PCOM. Complete recanalization was defined by Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) scores of 2b or 3. Favorable outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale score (mRS) of 0-2 at three months. Results: Our study population consisted of 15 AIS patients (age range; 31-84 years, median admission NIHSS-score: 21, range 2-38 points) who underwent EVT. Systemic thrombolysis was administered in 4 patients (27%). Seven of 15 patients (47%) had bilateral PCOMs, while unilateral PCOM was diagnosed in 2 cases (13%). Patients with bilateral PCOMs tended to have less severe stroke (p=0.199) at admission in comparison to patients with absent/unilateral PCOM (median NIHSS-score 18 vs. 28 points). The rate of favorable outcome was higher in patients with bilateral PCOMs (71%) in comparison to patients with absent or unilateral PCOM (0%; p=0.014). Patients with bilateral PCOMs tended to have higher recanalization in comparison with patients with absent/unilateral PCOM (86% vs. 33%, p= 0.076). CONCLUSION: Presence of bilateral PCOMs on pre-treatment CTA is associated with lower baseline stroke severity, higher rates of complete recanalization and favorable outcome in patients with AIS due to BAO who are treated with EVT. Future prospective studies including a larger sample of patients are required to define the potential association of posterior circulation collateral status with favorable outcome in this subgroup of ischemic stroke patients.