Stroke. 2005;36:211-214
Published online before print December 29, 2004,
doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000153059.41663.60
(Stroke. 2005;36:211.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.
Stroke Review
Advances in Interventional Neuroradiology 2004
David Pelz, MD, FRCPC;
Tommy Andersson, MD;
Pedro Lylyk, MD;
Makoto Negoro, MD
Michael Soderman, MD, PhD
From the Department of Neuroradiology (D.P.), University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; the Karolinska Institute (T.A., M.S.), Stockholm, Sweden; the Department of Interventional Neuroradiology and Neurosurgery (P.L.), Clinica Medica Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Intervascular Neurosurgery (M.N.), Fujita Health University, Japan.
Correspondence to Dr David M. Pelz, Director, University of Western Ontario, Neuroradiology, London, Ontario, Canada. E-mail cathy.lockhart{at}lhsc.on.ca
Key Words: Advances in Stroke • cerebrovascular disorders • endovascular therapy • intracranial aneurysm • intracranial arterial disease • radiology
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Introduction
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The year 2004 in interventional neuroradiology has been distinguished
by the steady accumulation of evidence to validate the efficacy
of therapeutic procedures, such as carotid angioplasty and stenting
(CAS) for cerebrovascular atherosclerosis. There is increasing
momentum to design trials that will validate the role of endovascular
therapy in the treatment of acute stroke and other cerebrovascular
disorders. Practice patterns continue to evolve as evidence-based
principles are applied to interventional therapy.
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Carotid Stenting
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In September 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration approved
the use of stents for the treatment of atherosclerotic disease
of the carotid bifurcation. This approval was based on data
from the industry-supported Acculink for Revascularization of
Carotids in High Risk patients (ARCHeR)
1 registry and the Stenting
and Angioplasty with Protection in Patients at High Risk for
Endarterectomy (SAPPHIRE) trial.
2 ARCHeR showed a 10% complication
rate for CAS in 581 high-risk patients compared with a 15% complication
rate derived from the carotid endarterectomy (CEA) literature.
SAPPHIRE was a randomized control trial (RCT) comparing CAS
to CEA in 334 high-risk patients. Primary end points were the
cumulative incidence of death, stroke, or myocardial infarction
within 30 days and death or ipsilateral stroke between 31 days
and 1 year. The overall rate of primary end points was 39% lower
in the CAS group, and CAS resulted in complication rates for
all adverse events
CEA in both symptomatic and asymptomatic
patients. The authors believe they have proven their hypothesis
that CAS with distal protection is not inferior to CEA in high-risk
patients. Criticisms of the study include the large proportion
of asymptomatic patients, bias favoring CAS due to unequal randomization,
the inclusion of many patients with recurrent stenoses after
prior CEA, small sample size, and controversial end points,
such as myocardial infarction and cranial nerve palsy.
3 The
evidence is also gathering that distal embolic-protection devices
are essential to minimize complications in CAS.
4,5 The Carotid
Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stent Trial (CREST)
in North America is accelerating enrollment, and there are at
least 3 European RCTs underway comparing CAS to CEA.
6 The Asymptomatic
Carotid Surgery Trial (ACST)
7 showed that immediate CEA in asymptomatic
patients <75 years of age with >70% stenosis halved the
5-year stroke rate from 12% with medical therapy to 6% (assuming
a 3.1% surgical risk). Although similar to results of prior
studies,
8 this will undoubtedly fuel the trend toward treatment
of asymptomatic disease with CAS. Despite the mounting evidence,
there is still no long-term data on CAS to rival that of CEA,
particularly in symptomatic patients who are not at high surgical
risk.
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Stenting of Intracranial Disease
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Dedicated flexible cerebrovascular stents are now available
to treat intracranial atherosclerotic stenoses, and 2 studies
9,10 showed that this could be successfully performed in >95%
of cases with complication rates <10%. Symptomatic restenosis,
however, occurs in up to 67%, particularly with vertebral artery
ostial lesions.
9 The development of drug-eluting stents may
address this problem. This procedure remains relatively high
risk and requires careful patient selection.
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Stroke
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Mechanical devices for clot removal in acute stroke are becoming
more sophisticated, and Phase I of the Mechanical Embolus Removal
in Cerebral Ischemia (MERCI) Trial evaluated results in 28 patients
treated within 6 hours of stroke onset. The device, a combination
of microcatheter, retriever, and balloon catheter, was able
to reopen 12 (43%) occluded arteries alone and 6 more (64%)
with additional intra-arterial (IA) recombinant tissue plasminogen
activator (rtPA).
11 There was, however, a high incidence of
intracranial hemorrhage (43%), although all were asymptomatic.
Overall, 9 of the 18 patients (50%) with vessel recanalization
had significant clinical recovery, compared with none of the
10 patients who showed no recanalization. Preliminary results
from Phase II show that the therapeutic window can be extended
to 8 hours, and in the 114 patients studied, successful revascularization
was obtained in 53.5%, with a serious procedural complication
rate of 3.5%.
12 Clot fragmentation based on laser technology
(endovascular photoacoustic recanalization) has also been applied
in 34 acute stroke patients.
13 The overall recanalization rate
was 41% with a 5.9% symptomatic hemorrhage rate and only 1 serious
procedure-related complication. The combination of IV and IA
rtPA remains intuitively attractive to facilitate rapid delivery
of thrombolytic agents, and the Interventional Management of
Stroke (IMS) Study
14 showed that this strategy is feasible,
but the results in 80 patients treated within 3 hours of the
event showed little significant improvement in outcome compared
with the placebo and treatment groups of the NINDS trial.
15 IMS II is already underway and will also evaluate the use of
a low-intensity ultrasound system (EKOS MicroLys). An RCT of
IV/IA versus standard IV therapy is being planned.
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Aneurysms
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Technological developments continue for the treatment of wide-necked
and complex cerebral aneurysms. Experience is accumulating with
use of the Neuroform (Boston Scientific/Target) device for stent-assited
coiling of these lesions,
16,17,18 and although occlusion rates
can be improved, there are still significant problems with thrombo-embolic
complications (up to 10%) and deployment difficulties. The stents
are expensive, and there is no conclusive evidence for superiority
over the balloon remodeling techniques employed successfully
in Europe and elsewhere for many years. Covered stents are being
developed for both intracranial and extracranial use.
19 Promising
new coil designs include those with a synthetic polymeric hydrogel
coating to improve aneurysm packing density
20 and a variable
detachable system
21 to minimize instrumentation inside the aneurysm
lumen. The use of Onyx remains popular in Europe,
22 but concerns
about aneurysm recanalization (10% by 1 year) have resulted
in waning interest in this technique in North America. As devices
for cerebrovascular therapy become more complex and potentially
thrombogenic, a better understanding and manipulation of the
coagulation system is mandatory to prevent thromboembolic complications.
23 There is ongoing debate about the impact of the International
Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT)
24 and pleas for more rigorous
scientific evaluation of new coils and devices rather than simple
reliance on case series, registries, and manufacturers claims.
25
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Arteriovenous Malformations
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The techniques of endovascular therapy of cerebral arteriovenous
malformations (AVMs) have changed little in the last few years,
but the efficacy and the indications for these procedures are
coming under increasing scrutiny. Although relatively high rates
for complete AVM obliteration (22%) with n-butyl cyanoacrylate
continue to be reported,
26 preoperative or preradiosurgical
embolization remain the primary therapeutic strategies. In a
large series of 339 preoperative procedures,
27 there was an
11% risk of death or permanent neurological deficit from the
interventional therapy alone, with poor angiographic results
in almost 8% of patients. There is a perception that the procedure
may be overutilized in the US and that the benefits of decreased
operative blood loss and normal perfusion breakthrough bleeding
may only be realized in complex lesions, and that the risks
do not justify use in more surgically straightforward AVMs.
28 In another series of 118 patients, 88% of whom had undergone
prior embolization, radiosurgery resulted in a 77% 5-year cure
rate with an annual risk of adverse event rate (hemorrhage or
stroke) of 3.9%.
29 There is still no evidence that palliative
embolization alone confers any benefit to patients, and partial
embolization may actually increase the risk of hemorrhage.
28 A retrospective analysis of 398 patients with unruptured brain
AVMs (290 surgery and/or endovascular, 108 untreated) followed
for an average of almost 5 years showed an annual bleeding rate
of only 1.5% in the untreated patients, and that therapy resulted
in a hemorrhage rate equal to that of untreated patients but
with higher morbidity.
30 The quest goes on to better understand
the genetic background of this disease and to use this knowledge
to improve and individualize treatments.
31
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Vasospasm
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Post-hemorrhagic vasospasm continues to challenge those who
treat cerebral aneurysms, and there is conflicting evidence
as to whether there is any relationship of vasospasm severity
to surgical clipping or endovascular coiling.
32,33 The efficacy
of traditional "Triple-H" therapy has been questioned,
34 and
old techniques such as multiple IA papaverine infusions have
been revisited with some success.
35 IA nimodipine
36 and nicardipine
37 have shown promise in small numbers of patients. Transdermal
nitropaste
38 and shunting of hemorrhagic cerebrospinal fluid
through lumbar drains
39 have been shown to reduce the degree
of vasospasm and to improve outcome scores. Balloon angioplasty,
however, remains the cornerstone of interventional management
despite the risks of vessel dissection and rupture. Although
conventional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is the gold
standard for diagnosing vasospasm, computed tomographic angiography
(CTA) and CT perfusion techniques are becoming popular, less
invasive screening alternatives.
40,41
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Imaging Advances
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Rotational 3D DSA is now a standard feature of neuroangiographic
units, and "3D roadmap" functionality may soon be available
to extract the most information from imaging data sets to help
guide interventional procedures.
42 Improvements in X-ray detector
technology may soon allow simultaneous CT cross-sectional imaging
from angiographic units. Three-dimensional computational fluid
dynamics will help us understand why aneurysms recanalize, enlarge,
and rupture after interventional treatment.
43 There is increasing
reliance on the less invasive modalities to diagnose disease,
plan treatment, and to predict therapeutic response. An evidence-based
analysis of procedures used for the diagnosis of carotid stenosis
44 showed that duplex ultrasound is the most cost-effective stand
alone investigation for carotid stenosis, and that the addition
of magnetic resonance angiography led to a marginal increase
in quality-adjusted life-years gained but at a prohibitive cost.
Duplex ultrasound with quantitative computer-assisted indices
for carotid plaque analysis can predict the likelihood of distal
embolization and neurological complications from CAS.
45 DSA
is being replaced by CTA as the sole diagnostic procedure before
cerebral aneurysm therapy in some centers.
46
Received November 18, 2004;
accepted December 1, 2004.
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Introduction
Carotid Stenting