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Background: The association between venous reflux patterns with aggressive intracranial lesions (AILs), including intracranial edema (IE), intraparenphymal hemorrhage (IPH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), has not been well established in cranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs). We propose an updated classification system based on venous drainage., Methods: We retrospectively assessed the catheter angiography findings of venous drainage patterns. Cranial DAVFs with no reflux flow and those with reflux flow drainage into the sinus only, the bridge vein only, the bridge vein and pial vein, and the sinus, bridge vein, and pial vein were designated as types 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. We analyzed the associations between venous reflux patterns with AILs in 73 patients with DAVFs., Results: AILs were found in 43 patients (58.9%), including 8 (11%) with SAH, 8 (11%) with IPH, and 27 (36.9%) with IE. Our proposed classification scheme was significantly associated with AILs (P < 0.001). SAH was found in patients with type 3 (62.5%) and type 4 (37.5%), whereas IPH was seen mostly in those with type 4 (87.5%). The proportion of IE gradually increased from type 3 to type 5 (11.1% to 29.6% to 59.2%). Significant difference was found among each type between complete resolution and uncompleted resolution after endovascular treatment (P = 0.034), which also demonstrated a gradually increasing proportion of uncompleted resolution from type 1 to type 5 (4.5%, 4.5%, 9.1%, 31.8%, and 50%)., Conclusions: Our proposed classification system effectively demonstrates a correlation between venous reflux patterns and AILs and outcomes of endovascular treatment in patients with DAVFs., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Anterior cerebral artery (ACA) flow diversion (FD), defined as ipsilateral mean velocity (MV) of at least 30% greater than the contralateral artery, could be seen an indirect sign of leptomeningeal collateralization in the setting of middle cerebral artery occlusion. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the association between dynamic FD and functional outcome in acute anterior stroke patients with large artery occlusion. Acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) or internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusive stroke patients within 12h were recruited. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound was done at baseline, 24h and 7d after onset and velocities of MCA and ACA were recorded. FD ratio was calculated by dividing the ipsilateral ACA MV by the contralateral ACA MV. FD was determined positive when FD ratio ≥1.3. Outcome was assessed by 90-day modified Rankin's Scale (mRS). The association between FD at different time points and functional outcome were analyzed. 16 patients (median age of 67 and 75% were male) were recruited. FD ratio showed a trend of decline but did not reach statistical significance (p=0.056). The proportion of FD at baseline (p=0.026), 24h (p=0.001) and 7d (p=0.044) was significantly higher in patients with favorable outcome. Higher FD ratio at baseline (p=0.02) and 24h (p=0.003) were significantly associated with favorable outcome. These results suggested that FD ratio showed a trend of decline after stroke onset. Presence of FD within 7days was associated with favorable functional outcome in acute MCA/ICA occlusive stroke patients., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background/objective: We sought to assess the different patterns of cerebral hemodynamic changes in staged carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS)., Methods: We prospectively recruited a cohort of patients with regular angioplasty or staged angioplasty from October 2013 to August 2015. The hemodynamic changes, including peak systolic, end-diastolic, and mean flow velocities in the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) and the contralateral anterior cerebral artery (ACA), were recorded by transcranial Doppler ultrasound., Results: Between October 2013 to August 2015, 25 patients (age range from 48 to 78 years, 96% male) with CAS were recruited, of whom 13 patients received staged angioplasty and 12 patients received regular angioplasty. Patients in the staged angioplasty group showed a higher degree of stenosis in the internal carotid artery. After the procedure, the peak systolic, diastolic, and mean flow velocities in the ipsilateral MCA in the staged angioplasty group were significantly higher than those in the regular angioplasty group (P = .028, .036, and .027, respectively). In the staged angioplasty group, first, the peak systolic, end-diastolic, and mean flow velocities in the contralateral ACA decreased significantly soon after balloon dilation in stage I (P = .042, .033, and .034, respectively). Second, the peak systolic, diastolic, and mean flow velocities in the ipsilateral MCA increased after stent placement in stage II (P = .006, .042, and .003, respectively)., Conclusions: Two-stage hemodynamic changes were observed in staged angioplasty. The velocities in the ipsilateral MCA started to increase significantly after the collateral flow diminished., (Copyright © 2016 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The value of CT perfusion (CTP) in detecting acute lacunar infarcts (LACI) has not been well established. We tested the sensitivity of CTP for LACI. CTP maps of consecutive stroke patients from 2009-2013 were examined. MRI diffusion imaging was used to identify those with LACI. Two stroke neurologists independently evaluated the CTP maps for evidence of a perfusion lesion in a deep perforating artery territory. Cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF), mean transit time (MTT) and time to maximum (Tmax) maps were first examined in isolation and then in combination. Inter-observer agreement was measured using Cohen's κ. The lesions identified were later confirmed against the diffusion MRI reference and the sensitivity and specificity of CTP maps calculated. A total of 63 patient scans were analysed. There were 32 patients with MRI-confirmed LACI within the coverage of CTP; 18 in the striatum, 10 thalamic, and four in the corona radiata. Another 31 patients had normal MRI. Inter-rater agreement was good (κ=0.83). Sensitivity (blinded consensus) was highest for MTT (56.2%) compared to Tmax (25%, p<0.001), CBV (9.3%, p=0.021) and CBF (43.7%, p<0.001). MTT maps enable detection of a significant proportion of LACI using CTP., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Massive ipsilateral edema in patients with cerebral dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) is poorly documented. The present study better characterizes this condition through assessment of venous anatomy and potential underlying mechanisms., Methods: One hundred and two consecutive patients diagnosed with DAVF and admitted to the Huashan Hospital from 2006 to 2012 were retrospectively reviewed for the clinical and radiologic data, and those with ipsilateral edema were recruited. An edema scale was calculated from the locations with edema on magnetic resonance imaging. We created a reflux anatomic venous scale (RAVS, including veins of Labbe, Sylvian, and Troland) based on DSA. Two experienced interventional neuroradiologists independently assessed the images and then reached consensus. The Spearman nonparametric rank correlation was performed to analyze the correlation between edema scale and RAVS., Results: Seven patients (mean 61 ± 13 years; 4 men:3 women) with ipsilateral intracranial edema were finally included. DAVF in transverse sinus with reflux flow initially in vein of the Labbe was seen in all patients. Increased edema scale was significantly correlated with increased RAVS (Spearman rho = .856, P = .014)., Conclusion: The present study indicated that severe ipsilateral edema, with reflux flow initially in vein of the Labbe, was associated with the increased number of reflux anatomic veins in transverse sinus DAVF., (Copyright © 2014 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cerebrovascular reserve (CVR) is an important prognostic factor in patients with major cerebral arterial steno-occlusive disease. However, few studies have examined CVR in symptomatic intracranial stenosis without ipsilateral extracranial internal carotid artery stenosis. This study sought to evaluate CVR in patients with symptomatic middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis using xenon-enhanced computed tomography (Xe/CT) with acetazolamide (ACZ) challenge. Twelve patients with symptomatic MCA stenosis were recruited. All patients were examined by Xe/CT to quantitatively measure resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) and received ACZ challenge to evaluate CVR. For resting CBF, no significant differences were found between the sides in four regions of interest. After the ACZ challenge test, the CVR was significantly different between hemispheres (ipsilateral versus contralateral CVR: 12.9 ± 24.3% versus 28.0 ± 16.8%, respectively; p=0.005) and in the MCA territory (ipsilateral versus contralateral CVR: 8.7 ± 24.7% versus 29.3 ± 24%, respectively; p=0.003). However, no significant differences in CVR were detected between cortical comparisons and white matter comparisons from the two sides. Thus, ACZ-challenge Xe/CT is useful for the measurement of CBF and CVR in these patients. Impaired CVR is an important characteristic of patients with symptomatic MCA stenosis., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)