Successful Thrombectomy Using Sofia (6F) PLUS Catheter in Acute Stroke Patient with Coincident Proximal Unruptured...

Little literature is available on mechanical thrombus aspiration in acute ischemic stroke with coincident ipsilateral unruptured aneurysm, especially with aneurysm proximal to the occlusion site. In this report, we describe a case of ischemic stroke in a patient with acute occlusion of M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery with coincident ipsilateral internal carotid artery-posterior communicating artery aneurysm who was successfully treated by mechanical clot retrieval using the Sofia (6F) PLUS technique (MicroVention Terumo, Tustin, California, USA).

A 52-year-old woman presented at our hospital 6 hours after sudden onset of dysarthria and right limb hemiplegia on waking up in the morning. She was managed using a direct aspiration first pass technique for distal middle cerebral artery mechanical aspiration using the Sofia (6F) PLUS catheter. The thrombus was manually aspirated in 2 minutes, and Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction scale 3 flow was restored. Next, LVIS (MicroVention Terumo, Tustin, California, USA) stent-assisted coiling of the aneurysm of the posterior communicating segment of the left internal carotid artery was immediately undertaken. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 4 at day 1 and 0 at day 7 postoperatively. No device-related or catheter-related complications occurred.

Ischemic stroke patients with coincident aneurysm are at increased risk of aneurysmal rupture and should be managed with tailored endovascular strategies. Our case shows that a direct aspiration first pass technique using the Sofia (6F) PLUS catheter provides a safe, effective approach for thrombus aspiration in stroke patients.