Image-guided vascular recanalization in acute stroke.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Christopher Putman.
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Patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage from aneurysmal rupture benefit from early repair of the aneurysm. Recent advances in endovascular technology now allow informed discussion of the merits of surgical versus endovascular repair of the aneurysm. Patients need close observation in an intensive-care unit following subarachnoid hemorrhage to diagnose and treat the multiple complications that result. These complications include hydrocephalus, fever, neurogenic pulmonary and cardiac dysfunction, and the development of delayed cerebral ischemia from vasospasm. There exist effective medical and endovascular treatments for cerebral vasospasm.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Lesions revealed by pretreatment diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) may not progress to infarction, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) or DWI thresholds for tissue viability may exist. We evaluated the evolution of abnormal DWI findings in patients with acute stroke who underwent thrombolysis. METHODS: Sixteen patients with acute occlusion of the anterior circulation underwent DWI followed by intra-arterial thrombolysis; follow-up CT or MR imaging was performed after reperfusion therapy. Lesion volumes were measured on all images. In three patients with abnormal DWI findings that appeared normal at follow-up, ADC values, ADC ratios, and DWI ratios were obtained on a section-by-section basis in the DWI-hyperintense regions that were either abnormal or normal at follow-up. RESULTS: In three patients, part of the DWI-hyperintense tissue appeared normal and part appeared abnormal at follow-up imaging. In one of these patients, the lesion decreased by -35.6%. In the other two, lesion growth appeared in regions that appeared normal at initial DWI: in one, the overall change in size was -2.4%, and in the other, the lesion increased by 89.8%. Respective mean changes at follow-up in normal-appearing and abnormal-appearing regions were: ADC, 731.7 x 10(-6) mm(2)/s and 650.4 x 10(-6) mm (2)/s; ADC ratio, 0.92 and 0.78; and DWI ratio, 1.16 and 1.32 (P <.001 for all measures). CONCLUSION: In patients with acute stroke who undergo intra-arterial thrombolysis, most abnormal, pretreatment DWI findings indicate eventual infarction. In 19% of the patients described herein, DWI-hyperintense regions appeared normal at follow-up. ADC values, ADC ratios, and DWI ratios may be useful in identifying the portion of abnormal tissue that is potentially salvageable after reperfusion therapy.