AUTHOR=Gao Lu , Qian Yu , Luo Jing , Hong Yang , Hu Yangchun , Cheng Hongwei , Cheng Baochun 

TITLE=Clinical Efficacy and Quality of Life Follow-Up of Reconstructive Endovascular Therapy for Acute Intracranial Vertebral Artery Dissection Aneurysms

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2020.00032

DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2020.00032

ISSN=2296-875X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Intracranial vertebral artery dissection aneurysms (VADAs) may cause acute ischemia or hemorrhage, in which case urgent endovascular treatment will be needed. Although the majority of patients obtain a good functional outcome after surgery, a surprising finding has been a poor quality of life (QOL) in follow-up. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical efficacy in reconstructive endovascular therapy for acute intracranial VADAs and to analyze the factors contributing to subsequent QOL.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> In this prospective study, 33 consecutive VADA patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage were recruited for comparison with 37 VADA patients with posterior circulation cerebral ischemia. All VADA patients were treated using a reconstructive strategy. Clinical, radiological, neurological, and cognitive data, as well as QOL, were assessed at admission and 6 months after surgery. Stoke Specific Quality of Life (SS-QOL) was evaluated for patients with good functional outcome [modified Ranking Scale (mRS) scoring 0-2] for subgroup analysis. Predictors for QOL at follow-up were analyzed by regression model.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Immediate angiography after surgery showed complete VADA obliteration in 57 (81.4%) patients and partial obliteration in 13 (18.6%) patients. Three (4.3%) cases suffered from perioperative complications, comprising two cases of stent thrombosis in the hemorrhagic group and one case of posterior inferior cerebellar artery occlusion in the ischemic group. Twenty-five (75.8%) patients in the hemorrhagic group and 30 (81.1%) patients in the ischemic group had a favorable outcome (mRS scoring 0-2) at 6-month follow-up. Follow-up angiography displayed that one case of recurrence occurred separately in both groups. Fifteen of the 33 hemorrhagic patients (45.5%) and 19 of the 37 ischemic patients (51.4%) rated QOL at follow-up as bad (SS-QOL score ≤ 3.9) despite a good functional outcome. Severity of neurological disorder and impaired neurocognition at baseline in VADA patients are proved to be independent predictors for the decline of QOL according to regression analysis.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Reconstructive endovascular therapy for acute intracranial VADAs is a safe and effective method with a low complication rate. VADAs lead to impaired QOL at 6-month follow-up, which is attributable to multiple factors. This study demonstrated that neurological and cognitive status at baseline is of significant importance for QOL after VADAs.</p>