Background: Vasospasm after the rupture of an intracranial aneurysm is a frequent phenomenon and is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in patients who have survived intracranial hemorrhage and aneurysm treatment. We analyzed the diagnosis and management of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage who eventually died from ischemic brain damage due to vasospasm. Methods: Between January 2007 and December 2021 (15 years), a total of 1064 patients were diagnosed with an aneurysmal intracranial hemorrhage in a single comprehensive neurovascular center. Vasospasm was diagnosed in 408 patients (38.4%). A total of 187 patients (17.6%) died within 90 days of the aneurysm rupture. In 64 of these 187 patients (33.7%), vasospasm was considered to be the cause of death. In a retrospective analysis, demographic and clinical data for patients without, with non-fatal, and with fatal vasospasm were compared. The patients with fatal vasospasm were categorized into the following subgroups: “no diagnosis and treatment” (Group a), “delayed diagnosis” (Group b), “cardiovascular complications” (Group c), and “vasospasm-treatment complications” (Group d). Results: Among the patients with fatal vasospasm, 31 (48.4%) were assigned to group a, 26 (40.6%) to group b, seven (10.9%) to group c, and none (0%) to group d. Conclusion: The early recognition of severe posthemorrhagic vasospasm is a prerequisite for any treatment and requires routine diagnostic imaging in all unconscious patients. Aggressive endovascular vasospasm treatment may fail to prevent death but is infrequently the cause of a fatal outcome.

Background This study reports a multicenter experience of using hydrophilic polymer-coated (HPC) flow diverters with prasugrel single antiplatelet therapy to treat ruptured aneurysms with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Methods Patients treated for intracranial aneurysms within 30 days after SAH with a p64/p48 MW HPC flow diverter were prospectively identified. Clinical presentation and outcomes, periprocedural and postprocedural complications, and degree of occlusion at follow-up were evaluated. Results A total of 84 patients were treated in 88 sessions (54.5% women; mean age 53.3 years). Four patients (4.7%) experienced flow diverter-dependent complications. No cases of aneurysm re-rupture or hemorrhagic complications related to antiplatelet therapy were recorded. Immediate complete occlusion was achieved in 27.4% of cases (23/84). The rate of complete occlusion among survivors was 83% in early follow-up, 90.2% in mid-term follow-up, and 92.3% in the latest possible follow-up. Conclusion p64/p48 MW HPC flow diverters with prasugrel single antiplatelet therapy were associated with safety from aneurysm re-rupture and high occlusion rates at medium- and long-term follow-up in managing ruptured aneurysms. Adequate management of single antiplatelet therapy with prasugrel is crucial, particularly with higher doses than usual, to avoid both ischemic and hemorrhagic complications.

Cerebral vasospasm (CVS) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Endovascular treatment, including intraarterial infusion of drugs with vasodilation effects, and balloon- and stentriever angioplasty, are helpful but may achieve only short-term effects. There is a clinical need for long-lasting treatment of refractory recurrent vasospasm. We report our experience in stent implantation as a treatment for recurrent severe post-SAH vasospasm. A retrospective analysis of our institutional database of 883 patients with SAH, managed between January 2010 and December 2021, was performed. Six patients were identified as having received intracranial stenting in the context of post-SAH cerebral vasospasm. All patients were initially treated with intra-arterial infusion of nimodipine and/or milrinone. Self-expanding intracranial stents were implanted during endovascular aneurysm treatment to enable access despite impaired perfusion (Group 1) or as a bail-out strategy after failed intraarterial drug infusion or mechanical treatment (Group 2). All stented patients received dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for 6 months. Nine vessels in six patients with severe post-SAH vasospasm were stented. The stents were deployed in 16 vessel segments. All attempted implantations were technically successful. All patients demonstrated radiographic and clinical improvement of the vessel narrowing. No recurrent vasospasm or permanent vessel occlusion of the stented vessels was encountered. A thrombus formation in a Group 1 patient resolved under 4 mg eptifibatide IA infusion. During long-term angiographic follow-up, neither in-stent stenosis nor stent occlusion was found. Endovascular implantation of self-expanding stents is a potential ultima ratio strategy for patients with severe refractory post-SAH cerebral vasospasm. Stents with reduced thrombogenicity (avoiding DAPT) and bioabsorbable self-expanding stents might further advance this concept.

Background: A tracheo-innominate fistula is a rare but life-threatening complication of tracheostomy and has a mortality rate of 100% without therapy. The underlying cause is an acquired fistula between the brachiocephalic trunk and the trachea, induced by a tracheostomy cannula’s mechanical impact. Case presentation: A 25-year-old female was admitted with pulsatile bleeding from a tracheostomy. The cause of the bleeding was a tracheo-innominate artery fistula, which was difficult to recognize. Said fistula was treated with implantation of a self-expanding stent-graft. The bleeding stopped immediately after the implantation of the stent-graft. Dual antiplatelet medication with aspirin IV and ticagrelor PO, bridged with a bolus of eptifibatide IV, was started right after the stent deployment. Conclusions: Endovascular self-expanding stent-graft implantation is a viable treatment option for tracheo-innominate artery fistulae, especially in hemorrhagic emergencies.

Purpose: Recent observational studies have indicated the efficacy of stent retriever devices for the treatment of posthemorrhagic cerebral vasospasm (CVS), both by deployment and on-site withdrawal into the microcatheter (stent angioplasty, SA) and deployment followed by retraction through the target vessel similar to thrombectomy (StentRetraction to reLieve Arterial Cerebral vaSospasm caused by SAH, Stent-ReLACSS). This article reports the findings with each application of pRESET and pRELAX in the treatment of CVS. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 25 patients with severe CVS following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. For the SA group, a stent retriever or a pRELAX was temporarily deployed into a narrow vessel segment and retrieved into the microcatheter after 3 min. For the Stent-ReLACSS group, a pRELAX was temporarily deployed into a narrow vessel and pulled back unfolded into the internal carotid artery. If intra-arterial vasodilators were administered, they were given exclusively after mechanical vasospasmolysis to maximize the effectiveness of the stent treatment. Results: In this study fifteen patients and 49 vessels were treated with SA. All were technically successful without periprocedural complications; however, 8/15 patients (53.3%) required additional treatment of the CVS. A total of 10 patients and 23 vessel segments were treated with Stent-ReLACSS. All maneuvers were technically successful without periprocedural complications and all vessels showed significant angiographic improvement. No recurrent CVS requiring further endovascular treatment occurred in-hospital, and neither territorial ischemia in the treated vessels nor vascular injury were observed in follow-up angiography. Conclusion: Based on the presented data it appears that Stent-ReLACSS with pRELAX does not pose any additional risks when used to treat CVS and might be superior to SA, especially concerning mid-term and long-term efficacy. The mechanism of action may be an effect on the endothelium rather than mechanical vasodilation. As many patients with CVS are diagnosed too late, prophylactic treatment of high-risk patients (e.g., poor grade, young, female) is potentially viable.

Purpose Although flow diverters (FDs) revolutionized the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs), clinically silent microinfarcts (SMs) are consistently detected in postprocedural diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and their clinical consequences remain unknown. This study examined the incidence of, and factors associated with, SM development after the use of two surface-modified FDs: the p48MW-HPC and p64MW-HPC. Methods A non-concurrent cohort study was conducted in 404 consecutive patients with UIAs treated with these two FDs between January 2020 and July 2023. The primary endpoint was the number of asymptomatic DWI lesions within 72 h after the procedure. Results SMs were detected in 58.2% of the cases, and ≥ 20 lesions were identified in 7.2% of cases. Multivariate analysis revealed that the use of two specific types of microcatheters—Prowler Select Plus (P < 0.001; IRR, 3.2) and RapidTransit (P = 0.001; IRR, 2.2)—and difficulty in microcatheter navigation to the target vessel (P = 0.039; IRR, 1.8) were significantly associated with greater numbers of lesions. After exclusion of outlier cases, these devices remained associated with a significant 2‑ to 3‑fold increase in SMs. Diabetes was associated with fewer SMs (P = 0.024; IRR, 0.5), although this association disappeared after exclusion of outlier cases. Conclusion The postprocedural incidence of SMs associated with hydrophilic polymer-coated FDs was similar to that previously reported. Interestingly, the main factor contributing to this phenomenon was the use of certain microcatheters. Careful device selection is crucial, and further research is needed to improve the safety of neurovascular interventions.