Brain Circulation最新文献

Carotid cavernous fistulas (CCFs) are a rare but debilitating entity that may present with orbital or cerebral venous hypertension. CCFs may pose diagnostic and management pitfalls for clinicians as they can initially be misdiagnosed as primary orbital pathology or nonarteriovenous shunting-related cavernous sinus pathology. Furthermore, the resolution of pulsatile tinnitus could be an ominous sign in patients with untreated dural arteriovenous fistula. We describe a case of a 56-year-old male who presented with progressive right eye proptosis, congestion, decreased visual acuity, limited duction, exophthalmos, and pulsatile tinnitus. The patient had poor response to antibiotics and steroids. Magnetic resonance imaging brain showed significant inflammation involving the right orbit and atypical enhancement of the basal frontal lobe adjacent to the orbit. Cerebral angiography revealed an indirect right CCF and right sigmoid sinus thrombosis with stenosis of the right internal jugular vein. No clear predisposing factor was identified. Given the rapidly progressive nature of the condition, the patient successfully underwent endovascular treatment with transvenous approach to preserve flow in the internal carotid artery while ensuring occlusion of the fistula. A triad of proptosis, eye congestion, and signs of turbulent flow such as tinnitus or orbital bruit should raise suspicion for CCF. An interesting feature in this patient is that CCF may have occurred secondary to sigmoid sinus thrombosis with accompanying small cortical vein drainage. Our case highlights the importance of early recognition and timely intervention to ensure the resolution of orbital hypertension-related symptoms in rare cases of CCFs.

Introduction: Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (EVT) has become the standard of care treatment for both intravenous tissue plasminogen activator eligible and ineligible patients presenting with an acute ischemic stroke due to a large vessel occlusion (LVO) within 24 h. Due to limited access to EVT, patients typically present to a non-EVT-capable center and are transferred to a larger, EVT-capable center. Quality improvement work has focused on improving this process to shorten the time to definitive recanalization of the affected vessel.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 98 consecutive patients who were transferred from an outside institution to our Comprehensive Stroke Center from July 2019 to September 2021. Thirty-nine of these patients had a diagnosed LVO at the transferring center on computed tomography angiography and were transferred directly to the angiography suite (DAT) whereas 59 patients were transferred to our Emergency Department for further imaging (EDT). Three of the patients in the DAT group did not undergo thrombectomy as there was no LVO identified on catheter angiography and were excluded from the study.

Results: Demographic and medical comorbidities were similar between the two groups. The DAT group had more severe strokes on presentation compared to the EDT group as measured by the National Institute of Health Stroke Severity (17.5 vs. 15, P = 0.048). Last known well (LKW) to arrival time in the angiography suite was significantly shorter in the DAT group (280 min vs. 474 min, P = 0.002). Patients in the DAT group were revascularized faster than the EDT group relative to LKW (320 min vs. 534 min, P < 0.001) while door-to-groin puncture and door-to-revascularization rates were similar. Modified Rankin score, incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, and need for decompressive hemicraniectomy were similar between the two groups. Successful revascularization as measured by thrombolysis in cerebral infarction score occurred at a higher rate in the DAT group but was not statistical significance (97% vs. 85%, P = 0.055).

Discussion/conclusion: DAT resulted in safe EVT compared to EDT with significant improvement in LKW to angiography suite presentation and subsequent vessel recanalization. Patients who underwent DAT experienced similar functional outcomes compared to EDT despite experiencing more severe strokes.

Symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is a globally challengeable disease. In the past 20 years, people have made a huge effort to deal with the problem including using endovascular technology and aggressive medical therapy. However, the efficacy of these methods seemed to be limited. The recent China angioplasty and stenting for symptomatic intracranial severe stenosis (CASSISS) did not support the addition of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting to medical therapy for the treatment of patients with symptomatic severe ICAD. So where are we heading in the post-CASSISS era?

Carotid web (CW) is considered a variant of intimal fibromuscular dysplasia. CW represents between 9.4% and 37% of ischemic strokes that were initially misclassified as "cryptogenic." However, in Latin America, there is a lack of detection. We present 5 cases of ischemic stroke due to CW and discuss the usefulness of multiplanar reformatting (MPR) imaging in computed tomography angiography. The identification of CW with the use of tridimensional (3D) reconstructions and maximum intensity projection was 20%, the rest was misdiagnosed as atherosclerotic plaque. With the MPR, the identification of typical CW findings was improved, such as a thin septum, a shelf-like image, and a mountain shadow-like image. However, one must be alert to changes in the 3D disposition of the carotid bifurcation, as they may mask the typical CW findings. A good practice is to align the internal carotid artery exactly posterior to the external carotid artery in the sagittal plane.