CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2024; 19(02): 145-152
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1776048
Original Article

Utilizing a Guiding Catheter to Improve Endovascular Therapy Outcomes for Acute Vertebrobasilar Artery Occlusion in Patients with Tortuous Vessels

Takahiro Himeno
1   Department of Neurology, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Tatsuya Ohtonari
2   Department of Spinal Surgery, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Akio Tanaka
3   Department of Radiology, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Tomoyuki Inoue
1   Department of Neurology, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Ryuusuke Koori
4   Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Kouta Sato
1   Department of Neurology, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Takeshi Miyazaki
4   Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
,
Shinzo Ota
4   Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan
› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Objective Stable and swift placement of a guiding catheter in endovascular therapies for acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion is often difficult because of the tortuous bends of the vertebral or subclavian artery especially in older people. The use of a delivery assist guiding catheter (DAGC) shortens the time with stable support to deliver a therapeutic treatment catheter to the target lesions. Herein, we reported the clinical and radiographic outcomes in endovascular therapies utilizing the DAGC for acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusions in actual clinical settings.

Materials and Methods Between January 2018 and December 2021, 33 consecutive patients (males, 20[60.6%]; median age, 78 years) using a DAGC for acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion were analyzed retrospectively. Reperfusion was graded using postinterventional angiograms based on the “thrombolysis in cerebral infarction” (TICI) classification. Furthermore, the time from puncture to recanalization and the rate of effective recanalization achievement were investigated.

Results Effective recanalization with TICI 2b or 3 was achieved in 28 (84.8%) patients, and the median time from puncture to recanalization was only 44 minutes, despite the high rate of older patients in our cohort. In contrast, asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage as a complication was observed in only 3 (9.1%) patients.

Conclusion The DAGC contributes to the shortening of recanalization time and improves the outcomes of endovascular therapies for acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion.

Authors' Contributions

T.H. was involved in conceptualization, methodology, investigation. T.O. helped in writing the original draft. A.T. did formal analysis. T.I., R.K., and K.S. helped in investigation. S.O. supervised the study.


Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee (IEC) (No.253).




Publication History

Article published online:
27 May 2024

© 2024. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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