Predictive value of balloon test occlusion of the internal carotid artery

Balloon test occlusion (BTO) of the internal carotid artery (ICA) is used in conjunction with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging to assess the cerebrovascular collateral reserve prior to surgical manipulation of the artery. The present report reviews 56 consecutive patients with tumors or vascular lesions at the base of the skull who underwent BTO and subsequent treatment on that basis within a 3-year period. Four patients underwent carotid sacrifice, since they tolerated the BTO and had normal SPECT imaging. Postoperatively, one patient had patchy infarcts in the frontal lobe, another a middle cerebral artery territory infarction, a third had a lacunar infarct, and the fourth had an impending stroke and was treated with an emergent revascularization procedure. There were 15 patients who underwent saphenous vein bypass grafting, of these there were three graft occlusions, one of which resulted in an infarction. There were two other infarctions due to technical difficulties, one being related to the revascularization procedure. Based on these results, we suggest that passing BTO with a normal SPECT study does not necessarily indicate that the patient is immune to stroke following carotid sacrifice. Revascularization should be considered, when ICA sacrifice is deemed necessary to treat the pathologic condition adequately, to minimize the likelihood of a stroke.