[Stepwise surgical treatment in patients with multiple stenotic and occlusive lesions of the great arteries of the brain]

The study was conducted at the Academician N. N. Burdenko Institute of Neurosurgery, Moscow, in 1999 to 2006. The paper presents the results of stepwise surgical treatment in 84 patients with chronic cerebral ischemia, caused by multiple stenotic and occlusive lesions of the brachiocephalic arteries, who underwent 183 reparative operations. Six major groups of patients with various combinations of lesions of major cerebral arteries were identified. An attempt was made to create an algorithm of the optimum stepwise surgical treatment policy in the identified groups of patients on the basis of the site, degree, and nature of stenotic lesions, by taking into account the cerebral hemodynamics and collateral circulation at all stages of surgical treatment. At the same time, changes in the degree of neurological deficit as one of the major determinants of the results of surgical treatment could be evaluated. The study has demonstrated that the chosen tactics of employing series arterial reconstructions in multiple stenotic and occlusive lesions of major cerebral arteries is an effective treatment option in patients with chronic cerebral ischemia.