title: Stenting of the cervical internal carotid artery in acute stroke management: The Karolinska experience.
abstract: Background Emergency stent placement in the extracranial internal carotid artery in combination with anterior circulation thrombectomy is a routine procedure. Yet, precise indications and clinical safety in this setting remains controversial. Present data for mechanical thrombectomy include few studies with acute stenting of tandem occlusions. We evaluated the feasibility, safety and clinical outcome of this endovascular treatment in a retrospective analysis of all consecutive cases at a comprehensive stroke centre. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients with acute extracranial carotid artery occlusion including acute dissection or high-grade stenosis and concomitant intracranial large-vessel occlusion treated with emergency carotid stenting and intracranial mechanical thrombectomy between November 2007 and May 2015. Results A total of 63 patients with a median age of 67 years (range 33-84 years) were treated. Of these, 33 (52%) patients had concomitant intravenous thrombolysis with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator initially. Median admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was 14 (range 1-29). Median time from stroke onset to recanalization was 408 minutes (range 165-1846 minutes). Procedure time was significantly shorter after intravenous thrombolysis (110 minutes [range 15-202 minutes] vs. 130 minutes [range 60-280 minutes]; p = 0.02). Three (5%) patients experienced post-procedural symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage. In 55/63 (87%) patients, a score of ≥2b on the Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction scale could be achieved. Eight (13%) patients died, five (8%) during the acute phase. A total of 29/63 (46%) patients showed a favourable outcome (modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2) after three months. Conclusions Our single-centre retrospective analysis of emergency stent placement in the extracranial internal carotid artery in combination with anterior circulation thrombectomy demonstrated high technical success, reasonable clinical outcomes and acceptable rates of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage in carefully chosen patients which are triaged interdisciplinary based on clinical and computed tomography imaging criteria. This warrants further study in a randomised prospective trial.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mpotsaris
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kabbasch
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borggrefe
authors.affiliation: 2 Neuroradiology, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.|3 Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: Vamsi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gontu
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Neuroradiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soderman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000601:surgery*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D000072226:Computed Tomography Angiography; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D020521:Stroke / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D017131:Thrombectomy; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator
keywords: Tandem occlusion; acute extracranial carotid artery occlusion; emergency carotid stenting; intracranial mechanical thrombectomy; ischemic stroke