Three-Vessel Anastomosis for Direct Multiterritory Cerebral Revascularization: Case Series

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Cerebral revascularization of multiple territories traditionally requires multiple constructs, serial anastomoses, or a combination of direct and indirect approaches. A novel 3-vessel anastomosis technique allows for direct, simultaneous multiterritory cerebral revascularization using a single interposition graft. We herein present our experience with this approach.

METHODS

Retrospective review of perioperative data and outcomes for patients undergoing multiterritory cerebral revascularization using a 3-vessel anastomosis from 2019 to 2023.

RESULTS

Five patients met inclusion criteria (median age 53 years [range 12-73]). Three patients with complex middle cerebral artery aneurysms (1 ruptured) were treated with proximal ligation or partial/complete clip trapping and multiterritory external carotid artery-M2-M2 revascularization using a saphenous vein interposition graft. Two patients with moyamoya disease, prior strokes, and predominately bilateral anterior cerebral artery hypoperfusion were treated with proximal superficial temporal artery-A3-A3 revascularization using a radial artery or radial artery fascial flow-through free flap graft. No patients experienced significant surgery-related ischemia. Bypass patency was 100%. One patient had new strokes from vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. One patient required a revision surgery for subdural hematoma evacuation and radial artery fascial flow-through free flap debridement, without affecting bypass patency or neurologic outcome. On hospital discharge, median Glasgow Outcome Scale and modified Rankin Scale scores were 4 (range 3-5) and 2 (range 0-5), respectively. On follow-up, 1 patient died from medical complications of their presenting stroke; Glasgow Outcome Scale and modified Rankin Scale scores were otherwise stable or improved.

CONCLUSION

The 3-vessel anastomosis technique can be considered for simultaneous revascularization of multiple intracranial territories.

Coding cerebral bypasses: a proposed nomenclature to better describe bypass constructs and revascularization techniques

OBJECTIVE

Bypass surgery has evolved into a complex surgical art with a variety of donor arteries, recipient arteries, interpositional grafts, anastomoses, and suturing techniques. Although innovation in contemporary bypasses has increased, the literal descriptions of these new bypasses have not kept pace. The existing nomenclature that joins donor and recipient arteries with a hyphen is simplistic, underinformative, and in need of improvement. This article proposes a nomenclature that systematically incorporates anatomical and technical details with alphanumeric abbreviations and is a clear, concise, and practical "code" for bypass surgery.

METHODS

Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the proposed nomenclature, which consists of abbreviations for donor and recipient arteries, arterial segments, arteriotomies, and sides (left or right), with hyphens and parentheses to denote the arteriotomies joined in the anastomosis and brackets and other symbols for combination bypasses, are presented. The literature was searched for articles describing bypasses, and descriptive nomenclature was categorized as donor and recipient arteries (donor-recipient), donor-recipient with additional details, less detail than donor-recipient, and complete, ambiguous, or descriptive text.

RESULTS

In 483 publications, most bypass descriptions were categorized as donor-recipient (335, 69%), with superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass described most frequently (299, 62%). Ninety-seven articles (20%) used donor-recipient descriptions with additional details, 45 (9%) were categorized as ambiguous, and none contained a complete bypass description. The authors found the proposed nomenclature to be easily applicable to the more complex bypasses reported in the literature.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors propose a comprehensive nomenclature based on segmental anatomy and additional anastomotic details that allows bypasses to be coded simply, succinctly, and accurately. This alphanumeric shorthand allows greater precision in describing bypasses and clarifying technical details, which may improve reporting in the literature and thus help to advance the field of bypass surgery.

External Carotid Artery-to-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass Using a Saphenous Vein Graft With 3-Vessel Anastomosis for the Treatment of a Large, Ruptured Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysm: 2-Dimensional Operative Video

Cerebral revascularization is the treatment of choice for select complex intracranial aneurysms unamenable to traditional approaches.1 Complex middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcation aneurysms can include the origins of 1 or both M2 branches and may benefit from a revascularization strategy.2,3 A novel 3-vessel anastomosis technique combining side-to-side and end-to-side anastomoses, allowing for bihemispheric anterior cerebral artery revascularization, was recently reported.4 This 2-dimensional operative video presents the case of a 73-yr-old woman who presented as a Hunt-Hess grade 4 subarachnoid hemorrhage due to the rupture of a large right MCA bifurcation aneurysm. The aneurysm incorporated the origins of the frontal and temporal M2 branches and was deemed unfavorable for endovascular treatment. A strategy using a high-flow bypass from the external carotid artery to the MCA with a saphenous vein (SV) graft was planned to revascularize both M2 branches simultaneously, followed by clip-trapping of the aneurysm. Intraoperatively, the back walls of both M2 segments distal to the aneurysm were connected with a standard running suture, and the SV graft was then attached to the side-to-side construct in an end-to-side fashion. Catheter angiograms on postoperative days 1 and 6 demonstrated sustained patency of the anastomosis and good filling through the bypass. The patient's clinical course was complicated by vasospasm-related right MCA territory strokes, resulting in left-sided weakness, which significantly improved upon 3-mo follow-up with no new ischemia. The patient consented for inclusion in a prospective Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved database from which this IRB-approved retrospective report was created.

[Modern trends in diagnosis and surgical treatment of moyamoya disease]

This review is devoted to moyamoya disease. It is a rare chronic steno-occlusive cerebrovascular disease. However, moyamoya disease is increasingly diagnosed by neurosurgeons in our country. Unlike atherosclerotic lesions of cerebral arteries, pathogenesis and course of this disease are much more complex and variable. Therefore, specialists often have certain difficulties in diagnosis, management and treatment of these patients. To date, a large number of surgical interventions have been proposed for the treatment of moyamoya disease. Revascularization approaches include direct procedures (extra-intracranial microanastomoses), indirect methods (synangioses) and combined revascularization. The purpose of the review is to systematize current literature data on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical patterns and surgical treatment of patients with moyamoya disease. results Outcomes of surgical revascularization and the role of its various components in combined approach are under particular attention.