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Background and Purpose: Placement of a stent within a flow diverter has been described previously but its consequences have not been analyzed. We evaluated the clinical and angiographic results of stent placement within a flow diverter during the same treatment session., Materials and Methods: All patients treated with a Surpass flow diverter were retrospectively evaluated. Patients with previously deployed stents and procedures in which scaffolding stents, a second flow diverter, or intrasaccular devices were used were excluded. Patient and aneurysm characteristics and clinical and imaging follow-up results were compared between stented and nonstented Surpass flow-diverter groups and stent assisted coiling., Results: Thirty-five patients (41 aneurysms) were treated with a Surpass flow diverter only (monotherapy group), and in 33 patients (35 aneurysms), a stent was placed within the Surpass flow diverter (stented group). Stents were placed inside the Surpass flow diverter for a variety of reasons at the operator's discretion. No statistical difference was noted between the 2 groups in age, body weight, sex, history of thromboembolic events, smoking, platelet inhibition levels, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, malignancy, and aneurysm location. Aneurysms in the stented group were larger than those in the monotherapy group (14.8 versus 9.1 mm, P < .001). The rate of clinically significant adverse events and complete aneurysm occlusion rates at 0-3 and 3-6 months (73.3% versus 61.3%, P = .31, and 84.8% versus 70.2%, P = .14) were similar. At 9-12 months, a significantly higher proportion of aneurysms in the stented group achieved complete occlusion (93.9% versus 73.2%, P = .019). There was a trend toward a higher obliteration rate on final follow-up in the stented group (93.9% versus 82.9%, P = .14)., Conclusions: Placement of a stent within a flow diverter increases the rate of aneurysm occlusion. We propose that these results are from improved flow-diverter apposition due to the higher radial force of intracranial stents., (© 2019 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)

Objective: To describe the rate and characteristics of air bubble retention (ABR) within cerebral aneurysms treated by flow diversion., Methods: Procedural flat detector CT (FDCT) studies were scrutinized for the presence of air bubbles (density < - 200 HU) in patients treated by flow diversion. Patients with intrasaccular treatment or previous clipping were excluded. Clinical outcomes, procedural angiograms, aneurysm characteristics and imaging features of air within the aneurysm were evaluated., Results: Bubbles were noted in 17.1% of 105 aneurysms in 85 FDCTs. Aneurysms with ABR were significantly larger (mean diameter: 18.9 versus 7.5 mm, P < 0.0001). There was a trend for the use of multiple devices during the treatment of these aneurysms (72.2% vs 49.4%, P = 0.071). All of the bubbles were located rostrally in the aneurysm sac and were smaller than 6 mm (mean diameter: 2.1 ± 1.3 mm). None of the patients had post-procedural neurological deterioration. The air had spontaneously disappeared on follow-up CT images (available in 12 patients) obtained at a mean follow-up duration of 48 h., Conclusions: ABR is not infrequent in cerebral flow diversion procedures. It is a clinically silent and self-limited technical complication. We propose air entrapment or filtration through the flow diverter as causative factors.

Aneurysms of the extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) in pediatric patients are rare and mostly treated surgically. The authors present the case of a child with a giant extracranial ICA aneurysm presenting with gradual airway compression. A plan was made to explore the aneurysm surgically and straighten the associated carotid artery kinks during the operation to enable further endovascular treatment if primary reconstruction of the carotid artery proved not to be possible. Finally, the aneurysm was successfully treated with staged hybrid intervention, which consisted of surgical correction of parent artery kinks followed by endovascular implantation of stent grafts. The child tolerated the procedure well without adverse events. A craniocervical CT angiogram at 5 months showed patency of the stent construct and relief of airway compression. However, a follow-up CT angiogram at 14 months showed total occlusion of the ipsilateral carotid artery without clinical sequelae and complete cessation of airway compression. The management of this was unique since the patient is the first reported case of clopidogrel hyporesponsiveness in a child undergoing neurovascular intervention with prasugrel monotherapy. Point-of-care testing-based adjustment of prasugrel necessitated education of the patient's family regarding the loss of effect of the prasugrel tablets upon crushing and contact with air.