Impact of stent design on outcomes of carotid stent angioplasty

Impact of shaggy aorta on intraoperative cerebral embolism during carotid artery stenting

BACKGROUND

Careful selection of patients for carotid stenting is necessary. We suggest that patients with a shaggy aorta syndrome may be at higher risk for perioperative embolic complications.

METHODS

The study is a retrospective subanalysis of the SIBERIA Trial. We included 72 patients undergoing transfemoral carotid artery stenting. Patients were monitored during the procedures using multifrequency transcranial Doppler with embolus detection and differentiation. Pre- and postprocedural (2 and 30 days) cerebral diffusion-weighted cerebral MRIs were performed.

RESULTS

Forty-six patients had shaggy aorta syndrome. Intraoperative embolisms were recorded in 82.6% and 46.1% of patients with and without shaggy aorta syndrome, respectively (P=0.001). New asymptomatic ischemic brain lesions in the postoperative period occurred in 78.3% and in 26.9% of patients with and without shaggy aorta syndrome, respectively (P<0.001). There were no cases of stroke within 2 days in both groups. 3 (6.5%) cases of stroke within 30 days after the procedure were observed only in patients with shaggy aorta syndrome. There were no cases of contralateral stroke. Shaggy aorta syndrome (OR 5.54 [1.83:16.7], P=0.001) and aortic arch ulceration (OR 6.67 [1.19: 37.3], P=0.02) were independently associated with cerebral embolism. Shaggy aorta syndrome (OR 9.77 [3.14-30.37], P<0.001) and aortic arch ulceration (OR 12.9 [2.3: 72.8], P=0.003) were independently associated with ipsilateral new asymptomatic ischemic brain lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

Shaggy aorta syndrome and aortic arch ulceration significantly increase the odds of intraoperative embolism and new asymptomatic ischemic brain lesions. Carotid endarterectomy or transcervical carotid stent should be selected in patients with shaggy aorta syndrome.

Predictive Factors for Stroke and TIA Following Carotid Artery Stenting

PURPOSE

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is an effective and minimally invasive method for the treatment of extracranial carotid artery stenosis. The aim of the present study was to explore independent risk factors to predict cerebrovascular events following CAS to identify high-risk patients and improve the safety of CAS in this population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

HISPANIAS is a national prospective multicenter study that included 14 hospitals that collected data from patients who underwent CAS. We analyzed morbidity and mortality within 30 days after CAS, looking for factors that might be associated with cerebrovascular events (stroke and transient ischemic attack [TIA]).

RESULTS

The HISPANIAS cohort included 757 patients: 80.32% were men, the mean age was 70.73 years, and 82.96% underwent symptomatic CAS. Cerebrovascular complications occurred in 42 patients (5.6%), including TIA in 24 patients (70.8% ipsilateral; mean 2.79 days after CAS) and stroke in 18 patients (72.2% ipsilateral; mean 6.72 days after CAS). The main independent clinical predictors of stroke/TIA identified by logistic regression were female sex (odds ratio [OR] 2.29, 95% CI 1.15-4.54) and diabetes (OR 3.29, 95% CI 1.71-6.40). Survival analysis showed that diabetic women, compared with the rest of the patients, had a higher number of events concentrated mainly in the first days after the intervention (p=0.003).

CONCLUSION

Cerebrovascular ischemic complications after CAS continue to be a challenge for the management of these patients. Although there are other factors, female sex and the presence of diabetes are emerging as strong risk factors for the development of complications after symptomatic CAS.

CLINICAL IMPACT

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is an effective and minimally invasive method for the treatment of extracranial carotid artery stenosis. Although CAS has been regarded as a reliable and safety approach, some studies reported that CAS was associated with a higher risk of procedure-related stroke. Cerebrovascular complications after CAS continue to be a main problem and a challenge for the management of these patients. Therefore, it is essential to identify the factors involved in the development of these complications. Our study shows that the combination of female sex and diabetes is associated with a clearly worse outcome, with a greater number of events concentrated mainly in the first days. This is different from other studies that have explored each factor separately. It would be interesting to perform separate interventions for this group given the increased risk of complications.

Relationship of pharmacotherapy and the incidence of embolic complications of carotid reconstructive surgery

Aim. To evaluate the relationship between lipid-lowering and antiplatelet therapy and the incidence of cerebral microembolism and related complications in open and endovascular revascularization of the carotid arteries (CA).

Material and methods. This single-center study involved patients with internal CA stenosis. The patients were divided into 2 groups depending on the surgery type performed: carotid endarterectomy (CEA)  — 163 patients; CA stenting (CAS)  — 71 patients. All patients underwent intraoperative transcranial Doppler monitoring to register cerebral embolism during CAS and CE.

Results. In CAS, microembolism episodes were observed in 66,2% vs 22,1% of patients in the CEA group (p=0,04), the largest number of which was recorded during catheterization of the internal CA and embolic filter installation (p=0,000). There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of the stroke incidence. In 8 patients in the CAS group and 1 patient in the CEA group, a transient ischemic attack was observed within 30 days after surgery (p=4x10-4 ). Intraoperative embolism was a predictor of a neurological event in the early postoperative period (odds ratio (OR), 33,08; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3,49-56,37 (p6 months before surgery reduces the likelihood of embolism by 4 times (OR 0,25; 95% CI: 0,11-0,58 (p=0,001), while lipid-lowering and antiplatelet therapy combination — by 12,5 times (OR, 0,08; 95% CI: 0,01-0,40 (p=0,001)).

Conclusion. Preoperative antiplatelet and statin therapy reduces the likelihood of embolism during the CA revascularization procedure.

1-Year Results From a Prospective Experience on CAS Using the CGuard Stent System: The IRONGUARD 2 Study

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to evaluate the 1-year safety and efficacy of a dual-layered stent (DLS) for carotid artery stenting (CAS) in a multicenter registry.

BACKGROUND

DLS have been proved to be safe and efficient during short-term follow-up. Recent data have raised the concern that the benefit of CAS performed with using a DLS may be hampered by a higher restenosis rate at 1 year.

METHODS

From January 2017 to June 2019, a physician-initiated, prospective, multispecialty registry enrolled 733 consecutive patients undergoing CAS using the CGuard embolic prevention system at 20 centers. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of death and stroke at 1 year. Secondary endpoints were 1-year rates of transient ischemic attack, acute myocardial infarction, internal carotid artery (ICA) restenosis, in-stent thrombosis, and external carotid artery occlusion.

RESULTS

At 1 year, follow-up was available in 726 patients (99.04%). Beyond 30 days postprocedure, 1 minor stroke (0.13%), four transient ischemic attacks (0.55%), 2 fatal acute myocardial infarctions (0.27%), and 6 noncardiac deaths (1.10%) occurred. On duplex ultrasound examination, ICA restenosis was found in 6 patients (0.82%): 2 total occlusions and 4 in-stent restenoses. No predictors of target ICA restenosis and/or occlusion could be detected, and dual-antiplatelet therapy duration (90 days vs 30 days) was not found to be related to major adverse cardiovascular event or restenosis occurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

This real-world registry suggests that DLS use in clinical practice is safe and associated with minimal occurrence of adverse neurologic events up to 12-month follow-up.