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IntroductionThe natural history of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is poor. Endovascular reperfusion therapy (EVT) improves recanalization rates in patients with emergent large vessel intracranial occlusion.ObjectiveTo examine the hypothesis that good collateral patterns identified by pretreatment CT angiography (CTA) might be associated with favorable outcomes after EVT.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective chart review of patients presenting with AIS due to BAO in a tertiary care stroke center during a 4-year period. BAO was diagnosed by CTA in all cases. Admission stroke severity was documented using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Pretreatment collateral score for posterior circulation was defined as follows: 0, no posterior communicating artery (PCOM); 1, unilateral PCOM; 2, bilateral PCOM. Favorable outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale score of 0–2 at 3 months.ResultsA total of 21 patients with AIS due to BAO (age range 31–84 years, median admission NIHSS score: 18 points, range 2–38) underwent EVT. Eleven of 21 patients (52.4%) had bilateral PCOMs, while unilateral PCOM was seen in 3 patients (14.3%). Patients with bilateral PCOMs tended (p=0.261) to have less severe stroke at admission than those with absent/unilateral PCOM (median NIHSS score 18 vs 27 points). Neurological improvement during hospitalization (quantified by the median decrease in NIHSS score) and the rate of 3-month functional independence were greater in patients with good collaterals (16 vs 0 points (p=0.016) and 72.7% vs 0% (p=0.001)).ConclusionsThe presence of bilateral PCOMs on pretreatment CTA appears to be associated with more favorable outcomes in BAO treated with EVT.

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.

BackgroundAcute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to emergent large-vessel occlusion (ELVO) has a poor prognosis.ObjectiveTo examine the hypothesis that a better collateral score on pretreatment CT angiography (CTA) would correlate with a smaller final infarct volume and a more favorable clinical outcome after endovascular therapy (EVT).MethodsA retrospective chart review of the University of Tennessee AIS database from February 2011 to February 2013 was conducted. All patients with CTA-proven LVO treated with EVT were included. Recanalization after EVT was defined by Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) score ≥2. Favorable outcome was assessed as a modified Rankin Score ≤3.ResultsFifty patients with ELVO were studied. The mean National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 17 (2–27) and 38 of the patients (76%) received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. The recanalization rate for EVT was 86.6%. Good clinical outcome was achieved in 32% of patients. Univariate predictors of good outcome included good collateral scores (CS) on presenting CTA (p=0.043) and successful recanalization (p=0.02). Multivariate analysis confirmed both good CS (p=0.024) and successful recanalization (p=0.009) as predictors of favorable outcome. Applying results of the multivariate analysis to our cohort we were able to determine the likelihood of good clinical outcome as well as predictors of smaller final infarct volume after successful recanalization.ConclusionsGood CS predict smaller infarct volumes and better clinical outcome in patients recanalized with EVT. These data support the use of this technique in selecting patients for EVT. Poor CS should be considered as an exclusion criterion for EVT as patients with poor CS have poor clinical outcomes despite recanalization.

BACKGROUND No conventional surgical intervention has been shown to improve outcomes for patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) compared with medical management. OBJECTIVE We report the initial multicenter experience with a novel technique for the minimally invasive evacuation of ICH using the Penumbra Apollo system (Penumbra Inc, Alameda, California). METHODS Institutional databases were queried to perform a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent ICH evacuation with the Apollo system from May 2014 to September 2014 at 4 centers (Medical University of South Carolina, Stony Brook University, University of California at San Diego, and Semmes-Murphy Clinic). Cases were performed either in the neurointerventional suite, operating room, or in a hybrid operating room/angiography suite. RESULTS Twenty-nine patients (15 female; mean age, 62 ± 12.6 years) underwent the minimally invasive evacuation of ICH. Six of these parenchymal hemorrhages had an additional intraventricular hemorrhage component. The mean volume of ICH was 45.4 ± 30.8 mL, which decreased to 21.8 ± 23.6 mL after evacuation (mean, 54.1 ± 39.1% reduction; P < .001). Two complications directly attributed to the evacuation attempt were encountered (6.9%). The mortality rate was 13.8% (n = 4). CONCLUSION Minimally invasive evacuation of ICH and intraventricular hemorrhage can be achieved with the Apollo system. Future work will be required to determine which subset of patients are most likely to benefit from this promising technology.

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.