Interventional and surgical management of internal jugular venous stenosis: a narrative review

A small subset of patients with presumed idiopathic intracranial hypertension are found to have isolated internal jugular vein stenosis (IJVS).

To review the current interventions used in patients who present with intracranial hypertension secondary to IJVS.

In December 2020, we performed a literature search on Pubmed/Medline and Scopus databases for original articles studying surgical and endovascular interventions used for intracranial hypertension in the setting of internal jugular vein stenosis. No date, patient population, or study type was excluded.

All studies that included at least one case in which a surgical or endovascular intervention was used to treat IJVS were included. Selection criteria for patients varied, most commonly defined by identification of compression of the internal jugular vein. The 17 studies included in this review ranged from case reports to large single-center cohort studies. The most used surgical intervention was styloidectomy. Styloidectomy had an overall better outcome success rate (79%) than angioplasty/stenting (66%). No complications were recorded in any of the surgical cases analyzed. Outcome measures varied, but all studies recorded clinical symptoms of the patients.

Few current large cohort studies analyze surgical and endovascular interventions for patients with IJVS. Notably, the most common intervention is styloidectomy, followed by internal jugular vein stenting. By understanding the trends and experience of interventionalists and surgeons, more focused and larger studies can be performed to determine effective strategies with the best clinical outcomes.