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Abstract Intrasaccular flow disruption with the Woven Endobridge (WEB) has become a well-established endovascular technique for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. This study presents our 12-year experience with the WEB and evaluates its evolving indications, procedures, and outcomes. A consecutive series of 324 aneurysms treated with WEB between 2011 and 2023 at three neurovascular centers was retrospectively analyzed and the study group was divided into four treatment periods. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate factors associated with technical success, thromboembolic complications, and angiographic outcome. The mean aneurysm size was 7.0 ± 3.6 mm and decreased during the study period, while the proportion of atypical sites for WEB implantation increased. WEB implantation was technically successful in 96.0%, and the ratio of WEB width to dome width increased during the study period, indicating oversizing. The neurological complication rate was 4.9% (1.5% major, 3.4% minor) and the mid-term complete occlusion rate was 60.6% (81.9% adequate occlusion), with no statistical differences in either outcome measure between the study periods. In multivariate analyses, the use of WEB 17 was associated with increased technical success (HR: 7.4, 95%CI: 2.4-23.6, p

Purpose Multi-sac aneurysms (MSAs) are not uncommon, but studies on their management are scarce. This study aims to evaluate and compare the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of MSAs treated with either clipping or coiling after interdisciplinary case discussion at our center. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed MSAs treated by microsurgical clipping, coiling, or stent-assisted coiling (SAC). Treatment modalities, complications, angiographic results, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Major neurological events were defined as a safety endpoint and complete occlusion as an efficacy endpoint. Results Ninety patients (mean age, 53.2±11.0 years; 73 [81.1%] females) with MSAs met our inclusion criteria (clipping, 50; coiling, 19; SAC, 21). Most aneurysms were located in the middle cerebral artery (48.9%). All clipping procedures were technically successful, but endovascular treatment failed in 1 coiling case, and a switch from coiling to SAC was required in 2 cases. The major event rates were 4.0% after clipping (1 major stroke and 1 intracranial hemorrhage) and 0% after endovascular therapy (P=0.667). At mid-term angiographic follow-up (mean 12.0±8.9 months), all 37 followed clipped aneurysms were completely occluded, compared to 8/17 (41.7%) after coiling and 11/15 (73.3%) after SAC (P

Abstract Intra-arterial nimodipine administration is a widely used rescue therapy for cerebral vasospasm. Although it is known that its effect sets in with delay, there is little evidence in current literature. Our aim was to prove that the maximal vasodilatory effect is underestimated in direct angiographic controls. We reviewed all cases of intra-arterial nimodipine treatment for subarachnoid hemorrhage-related cerebral vasospasm between January 2021 and December 2022. Inclusion criteria were availability of digital subtraction angiography runs before and after nimodipine administration and a delayed run for the most affected vessel at the end of the procedure to decide on further escalation of therapy. We evaluated nimodipine dose, timing of administration and vessel diameters. Delayed runs were performed in 32 cases (19 patients) with a mean delay of 37.6 (± 16.6) min after nimodipine administration and a mean total nimodipine dose of 4.7 (± 1.2) mg. Vessel dilation was more pronounced in delayed vs. immediate controls, with greater changes in spastic vessel segments (n = 31: 113.5 (± 78.5%) vs. 32.2% (± 27.9%), p

Abstract The use of mobile head CT scanners in the neurointensive care unit (NICU) saves time for patients and NICU staff and can reduce transport-related mishaps, but the reduced image quality of previous mobile scanners has prevented their widespread clinical use. This study compares the image quality of SOMATOM On.Site (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany), a state-of-the-art mobile head CT scanner, and a conventional 64-slice stationary CT scanner. The study included 40 patients who underwent head scans with both mobile and stationary scanners. Gray and white matter signal and noise were measured at predefined locations on axial slices, and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) were calculated. Artifacts below the cranial calvaria and in the posterior fossa were also measured. In addition, image quality was subjectively assessed by two radiologists in terms of corticomedullary differentiation, subcalvarial space, skull artifacts, and image noise. Quantitative measurements showed significantly higher image quality of the stationary CT scanner in terms of noise, SNR and CNR of gray and white matter. Artifacts measured in the posterior fossa were higher with the mobile CT scanner, but subcalvarial artifacts were comparable. Subjective image quality was rated similarly by two radiologists for both scanners in all domains except image noise, which was better for stationary CT scans. The image quality of the SOMATOM On.Site for brain scans is inferior to that of the conventional stationary scanner, but appears to be adequate for daily use in a clinical setting based on subjective ratings.

Background Data on impact of COVID‐19 vaccination and outcomes of patients with COVID‐19 and acute ischemic stroke undergoing mechanical thrombectomy are scarce. Addressing this subject, we report our multicenter experience. Methods and Results This was a retrospective analysis of patients with COVID‐19 and known vaccination status treated with mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke at 20 tertiary care centers between January 2020 and January 2023. Baseline demographics, angiographic outcome, and clinical outcome evaluated by the modified Rankin Scale score at discharge were noted. A multivariate analysis was conducted to test whether these variables were associated with an unfavorable outcome, defined as modified Rankin Scale score >3. A total of 137 patients with acute ischemic stroke (48 vaccinated and 89 unvaccinated) with acute or subsided COVID‐19 infection who underwent mechanical thrombectomy attributable to vessel occlusion were included in the study. Angiographic outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients were similar (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction ≥2b: 85.4% in vaccinated patients versus 86.5% in unvaccinated patients; P=0.859). The rate of functional independence (modified Rankin Scale score, ≤2) was 23.3% in the vaccinated group and 20.9% in the unvaccinated group (P=0.763). The mortality rate was 30% in both groups. In the multivariable analysis, vaccination status was not a significant predictor for an unfavorable outcome (P=0.957). However, acute COVID‐19 infection remained significant (odds ratio, 1.197 [95% CI, 1.007–1.417]; P=0.041). Conclusions Our study demonstrated no impact of COVID‐19 vaccination on angiographic or clinical outcome of COVID‐19–positive patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing mechanical thrombectomy, whereas worsening attributable to COVID‐19 was confirmed.

Background: Childhood-onset dystonia is often progressive and severely impairs a child´s life. The pathophysiology is very heterogeneous and treatment responses vary in patients with dystonia. Factors influencing treatment effects remain to be elucidated. We hypothesize that differences in brain connectivity and fiber coherence contribute to the heterogeneity in treatment response among pediatric patients with inherited and acquired dystonia.Methods: Twenty patients with childhood-onset dystonia were retrospectively recruited including twelve patients with inherited or idiopathic, and eight patients with acquired dystonia (mean age 10 years; 8 female/12 male). Fiber density between the internal part of the globus pallidus and selective target regions, as well as the diffusion measures of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were analyzed and compared between different etiologies.Results: Patients with acquired dystonia presented higher fiber density to the premotor cortex and putamen and lower FA values in the thalamus compared to patients with inherited/idiopathic dystonia. MD in the premotor cortex was higher in patients with acquired dystonia, while it was lower in the thalamus.Conclusion: Diffusion MRI reveals microstructural and network alterations in patients with dystonia of different etiologies.

Abstract The Woven EndoBridge (WEB) is a well-established device for endovascular treatment of wide-necked bifurcation aneurysms. The objective was to evaluate the long-term angiographic outcome of the WEB and to identify factors that influence aneurysm occlusion. Patient, aneurysm and procedural characteristics of 213 consecutive patients treated with the WEB at three German tertiary care centers between 2011 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Aneurysm occlusion was determined immediately after the procedure, at mid-term (≤ 12 months) and at long-term (> 12 months) follow-up. Among 182 included aneurysms (mean diameter: 7.0 ± 2.4, mean neck width: 4.3 ± 1.6 mm), 29.7% were ruptured. The novel WEB 17 was used in 41.8%, and 11.0% were treated in combination with coiling and/or stenting. Complete and adequate occlusions were observed in 101/155 (65.2%) and 133/155 (85.8%) at mid-term, respectively, and in 59/94 (62.8%) and 87/94 (92.6%) at long-term follow-up (median: 19 months), respectively. Among 92 patients available for both mid- and long-term follow-up, occlusion was stable in 72.8%, improved in 16.3% and worsened in 10.9%. There were no major recurrences leading to aneurysm remnants between mid- and long-term follow-up. Retreatment was performed in 10/155 (6.5%) during mid-term and in 1/94 (1.0%) during long-term follow-up. The WEB provides durable aneurysm occlusion at the long-term. Nevertheless, follow-up imaging is necessary to identify late recurrences that may occur in around 10%.

Abstract Endovascular coiling represents the standard treatment for basilar tip aneurysms. Some of these aneurysms are not amenable to conventional coiling due to a complex aneurysm geometry, hence, novel devices such as the Woven Endobridge (WEB) have been developed. We retrospectively compared WEB embolization and coiling for the treatment of unruptured basilar tip aneurysms. Patients treated with WEB or coiling at four centers were reviewed. Procedure-related complications, clinical outcome and angiographic results were retrospectively evaluated and compared. Forty patients treated with the WEB and 35 patients treated by coiling were included. Stent-assistance was more often necessary for coiling than for WEB embolization (71% vs 2.5%, p

Abstract Stent-assisted coiling (SAC) for ruptured intracranial aneurysms (RIAs) remains controversial due to an inherent risk of potential thromboembolic and hemorrhagic complications. We compared SAC and coiling alone for the management of RIAs using propensity score-adjustment. Sixty-four patients treated by SAC and 220 by stand-alone coiling were retrospectively reviewed and compared using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) with propensity scores. Functional outcome, procedure-related and overall complications and angiographic results were analyzed. Aneurysms treated by SAC had a larger diameter, a wider neck and were more frequently located at the posterior circulation. SAC had a higher risk for thromboembolic complications (17.2% vs. 7.7%, p = 0.025), however, this difference did not persist in the IPTW analysis (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.7–2.3, adjusted p = 0.458). In the adjusted analysis, rates of procedural cerebral infarction (p = 0.188), ventriculostomy-related hemorrhage (p = 0.584), in-hospital mortality (p = 0.786) and 6-month favorable functional outcome (p = 0.471) were not significantly different between the two groups. SAC yielded a higher complete occlusion (80.0% vs. 67.2%, OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.9–5.4, p

Abstract In aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), accurate diagnosis of aneurysm is essential for subsequent treatment to prevent rebleeding. However, aneurysm detection proves to be challenging and time-consuming. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a deep learning model (DLM) to automatically detect and segment aneurysms in patients with aSAH on computed tomography angiography. In this retrospective single-center study, three different DLMs were trained on 68 patients with 79 aneurysms treated for aSAH (2016–2017) using five-fold-cross-validation. Their outputs were combined to a single DLM via ensemble-learning. The DLM was evaluated on an independent test set consisting of 185 patients with 215 aneurysms (2010–2015). Independent manual segmentations of aneurysms in a 3D voxel-wise manner by two readers (neurosurgeon, radiologist) provided the reference standard. For aneurysms > 30 mm3 (mean diameter of ~ 4 mm) on the test set, the DLM provided a detection sensitivity of 87% with false positives (FPs)/scan of 0.42. Automatic segmentations achieved a median dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.80 compared to the reference standard. Aneurysm location (anterior vs. posterior circulation; P = .07) and bleeding severity (Fisher grade ≤ 3 vs. 4; P = .33) did not impede detection sensitivity or segmentation performance. For aneurysms > 100 mm3 (mean diameter of ~ 6 mm), a sensitivity of 96% with DSC of 0.87 and FPs/scan of 0.14 were obtained. In the present study, we demonstrate that the proposed DLM detects and segments aneurysms > 30 mm3 in patients with aSAH with high sensitivity independent of cerebral circulation and bleeding severity while producing FP findings of less than one per scan. Hence, the DLM can potentially assist treating physicians in aSAH by providing automated detection and segmentations of aneurysms.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of arrival-time-insensitive (ATI) and arrival-time-sensitive (ATS) computed tomography perfusion (CTP) algorithms in Philips IntelliSpace Portal (v9, ISP) and to investigate optimal thresholds for ATI regarding the prediction of final infarct volume (FIV). Retrospective, single-center study with 54 patients (mean 67.0 ± 13.1 years, 68.5% male) who received Stroke-CT/CTP-imaging between 2010 and 2018 with occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in the M1-/proximal M2-segment or terminal internal carotid artery. FIV was determined on short-term follow-up imaging in two patient groups: A) not attempted or failed mechanical thrombectomy (MT) and B) successful MT. ATS (default settings) and ATI (full-range of threshold settings regarding FIV prediction) maps were coregistered in 3D with FIV using voxel-wise overlap measurement. Based on an average imaging follow-up of 2.6 ± 2.1 days, the estimation regarding penumbra (group A, ATI: r = 0.63/0.69, ATS: r = 0.64) and infarct core (group B, ATI: r = 0.60/0.68, ATS: r = 0.63) was slightly higher in ATI but the effect was not significant (p > 0.05). Regarding ATI, Tmax (AUC 0.9) was the best estimator of the penumbra (group A), CBF relative to the contralateral hemisphere (AUC 0.80) showed the best estimation of the infarct core (group B). There was a broad range of thresholds of optimal ATI settings in both groups. Prediction of FIV with ATI was slightly better compared to ATS. However, this difference was not significant. Since ATI showed a broad range of optimal thresholds, exact thresholds regarding the ATI algorithm should be evaluated in further prospective, clinical studies.

Purpose: To investigate if quantitative contrast enhancement and iodine mapping of common brain tumor (BT) entities may correctly differentiate between tumor etiologies in standardized stereotactic CT protocols. Material and Methods: A retrospective monocentric study of 139 consecutive standardized dual-layer dual-energy CT (dlDECT) scans conducted prior to the stereotactic needle biopsy of untreated primary brain tumor lesions. Attenuation of contrast-enhancing BT was derived from polyenergetic images as well as spectral iodine density maps (IDM) and their contrast-to-noise-ratios (CNR) were determined using ROI measures in contrast-enhancing BT and healthy contralateral white matter. The measures were correlated to histopathology regarding tumor entity, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and MGMT mutation status. Results: The cohort included 52 female and 76 male patients, mean age of 59.4 (±17.1) years. Brain lymphomas showed the highest attenuation (IDM CNR 3.28 ± 1,23), significantly higher than glioblastoma (2.37 ± 1.55, p < 0.005) and metastases (1.95 ± 1.14, p < 0.02), while the differences between glioblastomas and metastases were not significant. These strongly enhancing lesions differed from oligodendroglioma and astrocytoma (Grade II and III) that showed IDM CNR in the range of 1.22–1.27 (±0.45–0.82). Conventional attenuation measurements in DLCT data performed equally or slightly superior to iodine density measurements. Conclusion: Quantitative attenuation and iodine density measurements of contrast-enhancing brain tumors are feasible imaging biomarkers for the discrimination of cerebral tumor lesions but not specifically for single tumor entities. CNR based on simple HU measurements performed equally or slightly superior to iodine quantification.

Objective: To identify factors associated with early angiographic reperfusion improvement (EARI) following intra-arterial fibrinolytics (IAF) after failed or incomplete mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Methods: A subset of patients treated with MT and IAF rescue after incomplete reperfusion included in the INFINITY (INtra-arterial FIbriNolytics In ThrombectomY) multicenter observational registry was analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with EARI. Heterogeneity of the clinical effect of EARI on functional independence (defined as modified Rankin Score ≤2) was tested with interaction terms. Results: A total of 228 patients (median age: 72 years, 44.1% female) received IAF as rescue for failed or incomplete MT and had a post-fibrinolytic angiographic control run available (50.9% EARI). A cardioembolic stroke origin (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39–10.0) and shorter groin puncture to IAF intervals (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71–0.95 per 15-min delay) were associated with EARI, while pre-interventional thrombolysis showed no association (aOR 1.15, 95% CI 0.59–2.26). The clinical benefit of EARI after IAF seemed more pronounced in patients without or only minor early ischemic changes (Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score (ASPECTS) ≥9, aOR 4.00, 95% CI 1.37–11.61) and was absent in patients with moderate to severe ischemic changes (ASPECTS ≤8, aOR 0.94, 95% CI 0.27–3.27, p for interaction: 0.095). Conclusion: Early rescue and a cardioembolic stroke origin were associated with more frequent EARI after IAF. The clinical effect of EARI seemed reduced in patients with already established infarcts. If confirmed, these findings can help to inform patient selection and inclusion criteria for randomized-controlled trials evaluating IAF as rescue after MT.

Abstract Background Initial reports of 23Na magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) date back to the 1970s. However, methodological challenges of the technique hampered its widespread adoption for many years. Recent technical developments have overcome some of these limitations and have led to more optimal conditions for 23Na-MR imaging. In order to serve as a reliable tool for the assessment of clinical stroke or brain tumor patients, we investigated the repeatability and reproducibility of cerebral sodium (23Na) imaging in healthy subjects. Methods In this prospective, IRB approved study 12 consecutive healthy volunteers (8 female, age 31 ± 8.3) underwent three cerebral 23Na-MRI examinations at 3.0 T (TimTrio, Siemens Healthineers) distributed between two separate visits with an 8 day interval. For each scan a T1w MP-RAGE sequence for anatomical referencing and a 3D-density-adapted, radial GRE-sequence for 23Na-imaging were acquired using a dual-tuned (23Na/1H) head-coil. On 1 day, these scans were repeated consecutively; on the other day, the scans were performed once. 23Na-sequences were reconstructed according to the MP-RAGE sequence, allowing direct cross-referencing of ROIs. Circular ROIs were placed in predetermined anatomic regions: gray and white matter (GM, WM), head of the caudate nucleus (HCN), pons, and cerebellum. External 23Na-reference phantoms were used to calculate the tissue sodium content. Results Excellent correlation was found between repeated measurements on the same day (r2 = 0.94), as well as on a different day (r2 = 0.86). No significant differences were found based on laterality other than in the HCN (63.1 vs. 58.7 mmol/kg WW on the right (p = 0.01)). Pronounced inter-individual differences were identified in all anatomic regions. Moderate to good correlation (0.310 to 0.701) was found between the readers. Conclusion Our study has shown that intra-individual 23Na-concentrations in healthy subjects do not significantly differ after repeated scans on the same day and a pre-set time interval. This confirms the repeatability and reproducibility of cerebral 23Na-imaging. However, with manual ROI placement in predetermined anatomic landmarks, fluctuations in 23Na-concentrations can be observed.

Abstract Background and purpose To evaluate the effect of timing of radiotherapy (RT) on survival in patients with newly diagnosed primary glioblastoma (GBM) treated with the same therapeutical protocol. Materials and methods Patients with newly diagnosed primary GBM treated with the same therapeutical scheme between 2010 and 2015 in our institution were retrospectively reviewed. The population was trichotomized based on the time interval from surgery till initiation of RT ( 33 days). Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used to compare progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) between the groups. The influence of various extensively studied prognostic factors on survival was assessed by multivariate analysis. Results One-hundred-fifty-one patients met the inclusion criteria. Between the three groups no significant difference in PFS (p = 0.516) or OS (p = 0.902) could be demonstrated. Residual tumor volume (RTV) and midline structures involvement were identified as independent prognostic factors of PFS while age, O-6-Methylguanine Methyltransferase (MGMT) status, Ki67 index, RTV and midline structures involvement represented independent predictors of OS. Patients starting RT after a prolonged delay (> 48 days) exhibited a significantly shorter OS (p = 0.034). Conclusion Initiation of RT within a timeframe of 48 days is not associated with worsened survival. A prolonged delay (> 48 days) may be associated with worse OS. RT should neither be delayed, nor forced, but should rather start timely, as soon as the patient has recovered from surgery.

Background Stent‐retriever thrombectomy is the first‐line therapy in acute stroke with intracranial large vessel occlusion. In case of failure of stent‐retriever thrombectomy, rescue stent angioplasty might be the only treatment option to achieve permanent recanalization. This study aims at identifying predictors for poor outcome and complications in a large, multicenter cohort receiving rescue stent angioplasty. Methods and Results We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with large vessel occlusion who were treated with rescue stent angioplasty after stent‐retriever thrombectomy between 2012 and 2018 in 7 neurovascular centers. We defined 2 binary outcomes: (1) functional clinical outcome (good modified Rankin Scale, 0–2; and poor modified Rankin Scale, 4–6) and (2) early symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Impacts of clinical, radiological, and interventional parameters on outcomewere assessed in uni‐ and multivariable logistic regression models. Two hundred ten patients were included with target vessels located within the anterior circulation (136 of 210; 64.8%) and posterior circulation (74 of 210; 35.2%). Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage occured in 22 patients, 86.4% (19 of 22) after anterior and 13.6% (3 of 22) after posterior circulation large vessel occlusion. Good functional outcome was observed in 44.8% (73 of 163). A higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale on admission (adjusted odds ratio, 1.10; P=0.002), a higher premorbid modified Rankin Scale (adjusted odds ratio, 2.02; P=0.049), and a modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score of 0 to 2a after stenting (adjusted odds ratio, 23.24; P

Background and Purpose: Recently, acute intracranial stenting (ICS) has gained more interest as a potential bailout strategy for large vessel occlusions (LVO) that are refractory to thrombectomy. However, there are currently no reports on ICS in patients with moderately severe stroke discussing the question if implementing a permanent stent is feasible and leads to improved recanalization after failed thrombectomy.Methods: We analyzed a large multicenter database of patients receiving ICS for anterior circulation LVO after failed thrombectomy. Inclusion criteria were defined as: Moderately severe stroke (National Institute Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) ≤9 on admission), anterior circulation LVO, acute ICS after failed stent retriever MT. Primary endpoint was the rate of improved successful recanalization after ICS defined as a modified Thrombolysis In cerebral Infarction (mTICI) score≥2b. Favorable neurological outcome was defined as an early neurological improvement (ENI) of 4 points or reaching 0 with respect to baseline NIHSS.Results: Forty-one patients met the inclusion criteria. A median of 2 retrievals were performed (IQR 1–4) prior decision-making for ICS. ICS led in 90.2% (37/41) of cases to a final mTICI≥2b with significant improvement (p < 0.001) after the last retrieval attempt. The median NIHSS decreased (p = 0.178) from 7 (IQR 3.5–8) on admission to 2.5 (IQR 0–8.25) at discharge. ENI was observed in 47.4% (18/38). sICH occurred in 4.8% (2/41).Conclusion: ICS after failed thrombectomy appears to effectively improve recanalization rates in patients with moderately severe strokes. Thus, ICS should be considered also for patients with baseline NIHSS ≤9 if thrombectomy fails.

Background: in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), automated detection of brain metastases with convolutional neural networks (CNN) represents an extraordinary challenge due to small lesions sometimes posing as brain vessels as well as other confounders. Literature reporting high false positive rates when using conventional contrast enhanced (CE) T1 sequences questions their usefulness in clinical routine. CE black blood (BB) sequences may overcome these limitations by suppressing contrast-enhanced structures, thus facilitating lesion detection. This study compared CNN performance in conventional CE T1 and BB sequences and tested for objective improvement of brain lesion detection. Methods: we included a subgroup of 127 consecutive patients, receiving both CE T1 and BB sequences, referred for MRI concerning metastatic spread to the brain. A pretrained CNN was retrained with a customized monolayer classifier using either T1 or BB scans of brain lesions. Results: CE T1 imaging-based training resulted in an internal validation accuracy of 85.5% vs. 92.3% in BB imaging (p < 0.01). In holdout validation analysis, T1 image-based prediction presented poor specificity and sensitivity with an AUC of 0.53 compared to 0.87 in BB-imaging-based prediction. Conclusions: detection of brain lesions with CNN, BB-MRI imaging represents a highly effective input type when compared to conventional CE T1-MRI imaging. Use of BB-MRI can overcome the current limitations for automated brain lesion detection and the objectively excellent performance of our CNN suggests routine usage of BB sequences for radiological analysis.

Introduction: Acute stroke care delivered by interdisciplinary teams is time-sensitive. Simulation-based team training is a promising tool to improve team performance in medical operations. It has the potential to improve process times, team communication, patient safety, and staff satisfaction. We aim to assess whether a multi-level approach consisting of a stringent workflow revision based on peer-to-peer review and 2–3 one-day in situ simulation trainings can improve acute stroke care processing times in high volume neurocenters within a 6 months period.Methods and Analysis: The trial is being carried out in a pre-test-post-test design at 7 tertiary care university hospital neurocenters in Germany. The intervention is directed at the interdisciplinary multiprofessional stroke teams. Before and after the intervention, process times of all direct-to-center stroke patients receiving IV thrombolysis (IVT) and/or endovascular therapy (EVT) will be recorded. The primary outcome measure will be the “door-to-needle” time of all consecutive stroke patients directly admitted to the neurocenters who receive IVT. Secondary outcome measures will be intervention-related process times of the fraction of patients undergoing EVT and effects on team communication, perceived patient safety, and staff satisfaction via a staff questionnaire.Interventions: We are applying a multi-level intervention in cooperation with three “STREAM multipliers” from each center. First step is a central meeting of the multipliers at the sponsor's institution with the purposes of algorithm review in a peer-to-peer process that is recorded in a protocol and an introduction to the principles of simulation training and debriefing as well as crew resource management and team communication. Thereafter, the multipliers cooperate with the stroke team trainers from the sponsor's institution to plan and execute 2–3 one-day simulation courses in situ in the emergency department and CT room of the trial centers whereupon they receive teaching materials to perpetuate the trainings.Clinical Trial Registration: STREAM is a registered trial at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03228251.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical feasibility and rate of mid-term occlusion in aneurysms treated solely with the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) in a German tertiary care university hospital. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine non-consecutive intracranial aneurysms underwent endovascular treatment using the PED exclusively between March 2011 and May 2017 at our institution. Primary endpoint was a favorable aneurysm occlusion defined as OKM C1-3 and D (O'Kelly Marotta Scale). Secondary endpoints were retreatment rate and delayed complications. Median follow-up was 200 days. Results: The mean aneurysm size was 7.1 ± 5.3 mm. Forty-four aneurysms were located in the anterior circulation (90%). Ten aneurysms were ruptured (20%). Branching vessels from the sac were observed in 11 aneurysms (22%). Favorable obliteration immediately after PED placement was seen in 13/49 aneurysms (27%), of those nine aneurysms were completely occluded (18%). Angiographic and clinical follow-up was available for 45 cases (92%); 36/45 aneurysms (80%) were occluded completely and 40/45 aneurysms (89%) showed a favorable occlusion result. A branching vessel arising from the aneurysm sac was associated with incomplete occlusion (P < .05). All electively treated patients had good outcome (mRS 0). Three aneurysms (6%) required additional treatment due to aneurysm recurrence. Conclusion: In our series, treatment of intracranial aneurysms with the PED was associated with favorable occlusion rates and low complication rates at mid-term follow-up. The presence of branching vessels arising from the aneurysms sac was predictive for an incomplete occlusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]