Cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome post-carotid artery stenting

Fatal intracranial hemorrhage after carotid artery stenting: Three case reports and a literature review

INTRODUCTION

We herein describe three patients who developed fatal intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) after carotid artery stenting (CAS).Case Presentation: We retrospectively reviewed 126 patients who underwent CAS from January 2016 to December 2018 and identified 3 patients (2.4%) (all male, mean age of 59 years) who developed ICH after CAS. Two of them developed left basal ganglia hemorrhage with extension into the ventricle and subarachnoid space, and the third patient developed primary ventricular bleeding. One hemorrhage occurred immediately after CAS, whereas the other two occurred 3 hours and 8 hours after the procedure, respectively. The mean stenosis of the treated carotid arteries was 91%. All three hemorrhages were fatal, and the mean time from hemorrhage to death was 50 hours.

CONCLUSION

ICH is a potentially fatal complication of CAS and often occurs several hours after the procedure. Headache, vomiting, and consciousness disorders are the most common symptoms of ICH. Careful screening to identify high-risk patients and strict management of perioperative blood pressure are important to prevent this complication.

Neurologic complications in patients with carotid artery stenting

Objective

Carotid artery stenting is helpful in patients with carotid artery stenosis and is a common method of treatment. However, data on the neurological consequences that might arise from, especially Asian patients after CAS is not enough. The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcome and prognostic factors affecting CAS patients.

Methods

From January 2013 to June 2018 it was enrolled 97 patients who underwent CAS with severe carotid artery stenosis in a single institution. We retrospectively reviewed neurologic complications such as restenosis, ipsilateral or contralateral stroke, and hyperperfusion during the 6-month follow-up period.

Results

There were no complication occured during the procedure in all 97 patients. Neurologic complications occurred in 30 patients (30.9%) after the procedure, and ipsilateral stroke 6 (6.2%), contralateral stroke 9 (9.4%), restenosis 2 (2.1%) and hyperperfusion 13 respectively. One of them had died (1.0%), of which the rest were discharged after symptoms improve. On univariate analysis, DM and pre-op NIHSS score was associated with the risk of CAS complication, exclusively. On the binary logistic regression for risk factors, DM (OR 0.144, 95% CI [0.029-0.718]), history of radiotheraphy (OR 36.103, 95% CI [1.009-1291.789]) and preoperative NIHSS (OR 1.266, 95% CI [1.059-1.513]) showed independent risk factors associated with post procedural neurological complications, statistically.

Conclusion

Carotid artery stenting is a relatively safe and reliable long-term outcome for patients with carotid artery stenosis. However, careful observation should be taken after procedure immediately for any possible complications.

[Transient monoparesis of the right arm after carotid artery stenting]

We report on an 80-year-old hypertensive patient with a left-sided high-grade carotid stenosis who developed transient monoparesis of the right arm after stenting of the carotid artery. Computed tomography (CT) of the brain (cranial CT) performed immediately after the symptomatic had begun showed a linear hyperdensity in the ipsilateral, precentral sulcus with a moderate, local brain swelling and edema. Transcranial doppler sonography revealed an accelerated post-interventional systolic blood flow velocity and in the ipsilateral medial cerebral artery compared to the preoperative value and an increased cerebral blood flow, so that the diagnosis of hyperperfusion syndrome with a subpial hematoma was confirmed. After strict blood pressure control and -reduction the neurological deficit regressed gradually and the hyperdensity had completely disappeared in control CCT after 15 h.