Treatment Outcome of Carotid Artery Stenting Underwent within 14 Days of Stroke Onset – Consideration of Safety and Efficacy of Urgent Carotid Artery Stenting for Neurologically Progressing Patients

摘要

As the safety and effectiveness of urgent carotid artery stenting (CAS) for neurologically progressing patients remain controversial, we retrospectively analyzed the outcome of urgent CAS based on the patients’ pathophysiological condition and neuroimaging findings. We divided 71 patients who underwent CAS within 14 days of stroke onset into two groups. Group 1 ( n = 35) was comprised of patients with progressing neurologic signs and a reversible ischemic penumbra on magnetic resonance images (MRI). They were treated by urgent CAS. Group 2 ( n = 36) was neurologically stable and underwent prophylactic CAS. In all patients we recorded the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and the modified Rankin scale (mRS). Urgent CAS resulted in significant improvement in the NIHSS score, when compared before and after CAS in group 1 (5.3 ± 4.3, P n = 2; group 2: 5.6%, n = 2). No patient suffered a symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. When the pathophysiological status and neuroimaging findings are used to determine patient eligibility for urgent CAS, this treatment improve neurologic outcome and can be performed as safely as prophylactic CAS in our cohort of patients with acute ischemic stroke.