Impact of preoperative endovascular embolization on immediate meningioma resection outcomes

OBJECTIVE Preoperative embolization of meningiomas can facilitate their resection when they are difficult to remove. The optimal use and timing of such a procedure remains controversial given the risk of embolization-linked morbidity in select clinical settings. In this work, the authors used a large national database to study the impact of immediate preoperative embolization on the immediate outcomes of meningioma resection. METHODS Meningioma patients who had undergone elective resection were identified in the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) for the period 2002-2014. Patients who had undergone preoperative embolization were propensity score matched to those who had not, adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics. Associations between preoperative embolization and morbidity, mortality, and nonroutine discharge were investigated. RESULTS Overall, 27,008 admissions met the inclusion criteria, and 633 patients (2.34%) had undergone preoperative embolization and 26,375 (97.66%) had not. The embolization group was younger (55.17 vs 57.69 years, p < 0.001) with a lower proportion of females (63.5% vs 69.1%, p = 0.003), higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (p = 0.002), and higher disease severity (p < 0.001). Propensity score matching retained 413 embolization and 413 nonembolization patients. In the matched cohort, preoperative embolization was associated with increased rates of cerebral edema (25.2% vs 17.7%, p = 0.009), posthemorrhagic anemia or transfusion (21.8% vs 13.8%, p = 0.003), and nonroutine discharge (42.8% vs 35.7%, p = 0.039). There was no difference in mortality (≤ 2.4% vs ≤ 2.4%, p = 0.82). Among the embolization patients, the mean interval from embolization to resection was 1.49 days. On multivariate analysis, a longer interval was significantly associated with nonroutine discharge (OR 1.33, p = 0.004) but not with complications or mortality. CONCLUSIONS Relative to meningioma patients who do not undergo preoperative embolization in the same admission, those who do have higher rates of cerebral edema and nonroutine discharge but not higher rates of stroke or death. Thus, meningiomas requiring preoperative embolization represent a distinct clinical entity that requires prolonged, more complex care. Further, among embolization patients, the timing of resection did not affect the risk of in-hospital complications, suggesting that the timing of surgery can be determined according to surgeon discretion.