The SILK flow diverter in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms

The SILK flow diverter (SFD; Balt Extrusion, Montmorency, France) is a flow diverting stent used in the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms. It works on the principle of redirecting flow away from the aneurysm sac, leading to occlusion over time. We present a systematic review on the clinical outcomes and complications of the SFD. A literature search for English language articles were conducted on PubMed, Medline and EMBASE for articles on the treatment of intracranial aneurysms with the SILK flow diverter. The inclusion criteria were n > 10, use of SFD only, data on complications and aneurysm occlusion rate (AOR). Eight studies with 285 patients and 317 intracranial aneurysms were included. The mean age was 52.7 years and nearly 80% were women. In terms of angiographic distribution, 86.8% of aneurysms were located in the anterior circulation and 13.2% in the posterior circulation. As for the aneurysm size, 37.9% were classed as small, 44.4% as large and 17.7% as giant. Ischemic complications and parent artery occlusion each occurred in 10% of patients. Aneurysm rupture rate was 3.5%, while the cumulative mortality was 4.9%. The main outcome measure, 12 month AOR, was 81.8% with complete occlusion in 216 out of 264 aneurysms. Use of flow diverters for the treatment of intracranial aneurysm with complex morphologies has gained in popularity over the last few years. Our review suggests that SFD achieves comparable AOR to its contemporary, the Pipeline Embolization Device (ev3 Endovascular, Plymouth, MN, USA) but has a higher rate of higher rate of ischemic complications, aneurysm rupture and mortality.     

血流导向装置治疗颅内动脉瘤的疗效分析

目的 探讨血流导向装置治疗颅内动脉瘤的疗效及安全性。方法 回顾性分析2019年5月至2021年4月行Pipeline Flex血流导向装置治疗的53例（68个动脉瘤）的颅内动脉瘤的临床资料。结果 53例68个动脉瘤,共置入60枚PED,技术成功率为100%。40例54个动脉瘤单纯应用PED治疗,术后即刻造影显示动脉瘤内造影剂明显滞留48个,无明显滞留6个;13例（14个动脉瘤）联合应用PED和弹簧圈栓塞,术后即刻造影均致密栓塞。围手术期总并发症发生率为7.5%（4/53）。53例临床随访6~28个月（中位数12个月）;末次随访时,47例未破裂动脉瘤预后良好（mRS评分≤2分）;6例破裂动脉瘤中,预后良好2例,mRS评分3分1例,4分1例,死亡2例。46例DSA随访4~8个月（中位数6个月）,动脉瘤完全闭塞率为67.9%。22例（28个动脉瘤）DSA随访9~18个月（中位数12个月）,动脉瘤完全闭塞率为85.7%,无动脉瘤复发。结论 血流导向装置治疗颅内动脉瘤总体安全、有效,但对颅内破裂动脉瘤的安全性仍需进一步研究。     

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in patients under 35-years-old: A single-center experience

Objective

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is relatively uncommon in young adults. There is a paucity of data pertaining to the management of aneurysmal SAH in young patients, especially with endovascular therapy.

Methods

We reviewed all SAH patients under the age of 35 years treated at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Philadelphia, USA, from 2004 to 2009.

Results

A total of 40 patients (15 males and 25 females) under the age of 35 were treated for aneurysmal SAH. The average patient age was 30 years (17–35 yo); 25 (62.5%) were smokers. Seventeen patients presented with a Hunt and Hess Grade I or II (42.5%), 20 with a Grade III (50%), and 3 with a Grade IV (7.5%). Thirty-two aneurysms (80%) were located in the anterior circulation and 8 (20%) in the posterior circulation. Thirty-five patients (87.5%) were treated with coil embolization versus 5 with craniotomy and clipping. The endovascular and microsurgical occlusion rates were 90.6% and 100%, respectively. There were no procedural complications with endovascular therapy. Of 35 patients undergoing endovascular treatment, 24 (68.6%) had excellent outcomes at time of discharge with a Glasgow outcome scale of 5. There were no deaths in the series. No patient experienced a rehemorrhage after endovascular treatment.

Conclusion

Smoking, female sex, and anterior circulation aneurysms are highly prevalent in young adults with SAH. Endovascular treatment resulted in an overall favorable outcome with no rehemorrhages in patients under the age of 35 years. Our results suggest that endovascular therapy is a reasonable treatment for young patients with SAH.     

血流导向装置和弹簧圈栓塞对颅内动脉瘤影响的Meta分析

目的通过meta分析的方法,比较血流导向装置(FDD)和弹簧圈栓塞治疗(CET)对颅内动脉瘤的临床疗效和安全性。方法系统检索Pub Med、Cochrane图书馆、Embase、中国知网和万方数据库,并手工查阅相关文献的引文目录。检索时间截至2017年3月,纳入符合入选标准的研究。疗效终点包括动脉瘤完全闭塞率和复发率,安全性终点为并发症发生率。结果最终纳入临床研究14项,包括观察性研究13项和随机对照试验1项。总样本量为1234例,其中FDD组449例,CET组785例。Meta分析结果提示,与CET相比,FDD能明显提高动脉瘤完全闭塞率(OR:3.40,95%CI:2.54~4.55;P0.01)并降低术后复发率(OR:0.12,95%CI:0.06~0.24;P0.01)。两组患者的总体并发症发生率并无显著差异(OR:1.11,95%CI:0.64~1.93;P=0.72)。结论相比于CET,FDD治疗颅内动脉瘤的效果更佳,且不增加并发症的发生率。     

Safety and efficacy of the Silk flow diverter: Insight from the DIVERSION prospective cohort study

Background and purposeFlow diverters are considered as an essential tool in the stent-based treatment of complex intracranial aneurysms. We report here a subgroup analysis of the nationwide prospective DIVERSION study to investigate the safety and efficacy of the Silk flow diverter at 12 months follow-up.MethodsWe performed a subgroup analysis of patients included in the DIVERSION, a national prospective cohort study including all flow diverters placement between 2012 and 2014 in France, and treated with the Silk. The primary outcome was the morbi-mortality at 12 months, including death, morbidity event and aneurysm retreatment within 12 months post-treatment. All reported serious events were adjudicated by an independent Data Safety and Monitoring Board. Satisfactory occlusion was defined as 3 or 4 on Kamran's scale by an independent imaging core laboratory during follow-up.ResultsA total of 102 procedures involving 101 patients (mean age ± standard deviation, 54.3 ± 13.5 years) harbouring 118 aneurysms (113/118 located in the anterior circulation; mean size 8.2 ± 7.1 mm) were included. During the 12-month follow-up, 34 (33.3%) procedures experienced at least one morbi-mortality event: 3 deaths, 27 morbidity events and 4 retreatments. Overall, 1/3 deaths and 10/27 morbidity events were related to the device and/or the procedure, leading to a specific survival rate and a specific free-morbidity survival rate at 12 months of 98.98% [95% confidence interval, 92.98%–99.86%] and 89.73% [95%CI, 81.71%–94.36%], respectively. The rate of permanent-related neurological deficit was 5.9% within 12 months. One year follow-up imaging showed satisfactory occlusion in 82.2% of cases.ConclusionFlow diversion with the Silk device has a reasonable safety and effectiveness profile for the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms.     

Treatment of intracranial aneurysms using the new Surpass Evolve flow diverter: Safety outcomes and six-month imaging follow-up

Background and purposeSeveral studies have reported good long-term results in the occlusion of intracranial aneurysms with flow diverter treatment. The aim of this study was to report the safety and six-month follow-up outcomes using the new Surpass Evolve flow diverter in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.Materials and methodsConsecutive patients with intracranial aneurysm treated with Surpass Evolve flow diverter in two high-volume neurovascular centers between May 2019 and January 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Procedure-related complications, aneurysm occlusion (O’Kelly-Marotta grading scale), and clinical outcomes were assessed.ResultsTwenty-nine patients with 30 aneurysms were included in the study. Favorable aneurysm occlusion (O’Kelly Marotta grading scale C-D) at six-month follow-up was achieved in 21/27 (78%) aneurysms. No clinical procedure related thromboembolic complications were encountered. Twenty-three out of 24 patients with unruptured aneurysms treated with Surpass Evolve remained clinically intact at clinical follow-up. There was one fatal hemorrhagic procedure-related complication (3%). In five patients with ruptured aneurysms, no early or late rebleeds occurred from the aneurysms.ConclusionsSurpass Evolve FD worked technically well with no intraprocedural thromboembolic complications and occlusion rates comparable to other FDs.     

Local intraarterial tirofiban after formation of anterograde flow in patients with acute ischemic stroke: Preliminary experience and short term follow-up results

Objective

Despite the risk of intracranial hemorrhage, combination therapy with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator and intraarterial mechanical thrombolysis can be effective for treatment of acute ischemic stroke. We investigated the feasibility and safety of intraarterial tirofiban following formation of anterograde flow after mechanical thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke.

Methods

We analyzed data from consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke, who underwent treatment with intraarterial thrombolysis. All patients were evaluated immediately and 7 days later by computed tomography scanning and magnetic resonance imaging scanning with magnetic resonance angiography. For clinical outcome analysis, we followed up the NIHSS score and modified Rankin Scale score during a period of 3 months.

Results

Sixteen patients underwent treatment. The mean baseline NIHSS score was 16.1 ± 4.4 points. 75.1% of patients showed angiographic improvement; 43.8% and 31.3% had complete and partial recanalization, respectively. 53.3% and 56.3% showed clinical improvement and favorable outcome at 24 h and 3 months, respectively. One patient had symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that administration of local intraarterial tirofiban after anterograde flow formation is a viable treatment strategy for patients of acute ischemic stroke for reducing the risk of reocclusion after intraarterial thrombolysis.