Hybrid Surgery for Nontaper or Nonstump Lesions in Symptomatic Subacute or Chronic Internal Carotid Occlusion: A...

Internal carotid artery occlusion (ICAO) causes transient ischemic attack and cerebral infarction. ICAO management remains clinically challenging. We discuss a hybrid treatment combining carotid endarterectomy and endovascular intervention (E-I) for patients with nontaper or nonstump lesions of symptomatic ICAO.

We treated 32 patients with consecutive nontaper or nonstump ICAO with neurological symptoms with hybrid treatment or E-I. We analyzed the epidemiology, symptoms, angiographic morphology, technical success rate, and perioperative complications.

Of the 32 patients, 17 were treated with hybrid surgery and 15, E-I. The demographic data and lesion characteristics were similar between the 2 groups. The overall recanalization success rate was 71.9%. The rate for hybrid surgery was better than that for E-I (88.2% vs. 53.3%). The postoperative cerebral hyperperfusion rate showed no difference between the 2 groups (11.8% vs. 6.7%). Ipsilateral cerebral perfusion improved after treatment. The mean transition time and time to peak were greater than normal (normal values, <6 seconds and <8 seconds, respectively). Both increased significantly after treatment (mean transition time, 11.30 seconds vs. 7.25 seconds; time to peak, 19.30 seconds vs. 15.50 seconds). The incidence of perioperative complications from hybrid surgery was less than that with E-I (5.9% vs. 40.0%). Recurrent cerebrovascular events (5.9% vs. 13.3%) and the 3-month modified Rankin scale score (2.76 ± 0.66 vs. 2.93 ± 0.70) did not differ between the 2 groups.

Recanalization of nontaper or nonstump ICAO with hybrid treatment was more successful than that with E-I, with fewer perioperative complications. The carotid endarterectomy procedure enables easier wire crossing across the occlusion and reduces potential technology-related complications by requiring a shorter lesion and fewer dissections and minimizing the effect of calcification.