Early embolization for ruptured aneurysm in acute stage of subarachnoid hemorrhage with neurogenic pulmonary edema

Endovascular Therapy for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Complicated by Neurogenic Pulmonary Edema and Takotsubo-Like Cardiomyopathy: A Report of Ten Cases

Objective:

Patients sustaining aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) can be further complicated by neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) and Takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy (TCM) with dismal outcomes. The present study aimed to validate the efficacy of endovascular therapy for patients with aSAH complicated by NPE and TCM.

Materials and Methods:

Patients who were diagnosed with aSAH complicated by NPE and TCM and treated by endovascular therapy were retrospectively evaluated.

Results:

In the past 5 years, a total of ten female patients with aSAH were also diagnosed with NPE and TCM. Six of the ten were cases with high-grade aSAH (Hunt and Hess Grades IV and V), whereas four were low-grade aSAH (Grades II and III). The locations of ruptured aneurysms were the internal carotid-posterior communicating artery junctional site in five patients, the anterior communicating artery in two, the vertebral artery in two, and the middle cerebral artery in one. These aneurysms were successfully embolized by endovascular therapy without any procedure-associated complications. The clinical outcome measure at 6 months after discharge on the Modified Rankin Scale was found to be 0 in four patients, 1 in two, 3 in one, and 5 in three.

Conclusions:

Endovascular therapy can be a feasible, alternative measure for the treatment of patients with high-grade aSAH who also have NPE and TCM.

Therapeutic outcomes for patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage complicated by Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND

There are no guidelines regarding the optimal treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients complicated by Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM). Although coiling has been favored as the first-line treatment, clipping may also be indicated in patients with ruptured middle cerebral artery aneurysms or in those with massive intracerebral hemorrhage. The study objective is (1) to report the feasibility/safety of clipping/coiling and (2) to identify possible prognosticators in that population.

METHODS

Between January 2008 and December 2014, 371 consecutive patients with aneurysmal SAH underwent transthoracic echocardiography after admission, and 30 with TCM (7.7 %) were identified. We reviewed the incidence and type of perioperative complications among clipped (n = 11) and coiled (n = 19) patients. The 30 patients were dichotomized based on their 90-day modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores into favorable (mRS: 0-2) and unfavorable (mRS: 3-6) groups, and their demographic, laboratory and echocardiographic variables were compared.

RESULTS

Neither clipped nor coiled patients developed serious perioperative cardiopulmonary complications, but coiled patients had a higher incidence of fatal procedure-related complications. Among the 30 patients, 13 (43 %) had favorable 90-day outcomes, and the favorable group was significantly younger. Age, but not the degree of cardiac dysfunction, correlated with outcomes by multivariate regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Clipping was shown to be a safe treatment modality in our cohort, and treatment selection may better be made on a case-by-case basis in most patients with SAH-induced TCM. The lack of correlation between the degree of cardiac dysfunction and outcomes indicates that aggressive intervention is justified in patients with severely impaired cardiac function.

Early endovascular treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage complicated by neurogenic pulmonary edema and Takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may be associated with acute cardiopulmonary complications, like neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) and Takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy (TCM). These dysfunctions seem to result from a neurogenically induced overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system through the brain-heart connection and often complicate poor grade aneurysmal SAH. The optimal treatment modality and timing of intervention in this clinical setting have not been established yet. Early endovascular therapy seems to be the fitting treatment in this particular group of patients, in which surgical clipping is often contraindicated due to the added risk of craniotomy. Herein we describe the case of a woman admitted to the emergency department with aneurysmal SAH complicated by NPE-TCM, in which early endovascular coiling was successfully performed. Our case, characterized by a favorable outcome, further supports the evidence that early endovascular treatment should be preferred in this peculiar clinical scenario.