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Ischemic Stroke
Original research
Stent retrievers with segmented design improve the efficacy of thrombectomy in tortuous vessels
  1. Naoki Kaneko1,
  2. Yutaro Komuro2,
  3. Hajime Yokota3,
  4. Satoshi Tateshima1
  1. 1 Division of Interventional Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
  2. 2 Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
  3. 3 Department of Radiology, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba, Japan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Satoshi Tateshima, Division of Interventional Neuroradiology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA; stateshi{at}g.ucla.edu

Abstract

Introduction Tortuous vascular anatomy is one of the greatest challenges in mechanical thrombectomy. This study examines the impact of vascular tortuosity on the performance of stent retrievers and evaluates the efficacy of the newer generation stent retrievers with segmented design.

Materials and methods Models with mild, moderate, and severe tortuosity with an internal carotid artery (ICA) and a middle cerebral artery (MCA) were created. An elastic and cohesive clot was placed in the MCA lying from distal M1 and proximal M2. We assessed the revascularization rates of two commonly used stent retrievers (Trevo XP and Solitaire FR) and two newer stent retrievers with segmented design (Embotrap and Versi) in each vascular model.

Results Both the type of stent retriever and the severity of vessel tortuosity significantly affected the successful recanalization rate. Post-hoc tests showed that the rate of revascularization was significantly less in severe tortuosity than in mild or moderate tortuosity (P<0.001). The Versi resulted in higher success rates than the Solitaire (P<0.01) and the Trevo (P<0.05). The success rates of the Embotrap were higher than the Solitaire and Trevo stent retrievers, although the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusions Severe tortuosity reduces the performance of mechanical thrombectomy. The segmented design in stent retrievers could improve the efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy in tortuous vessels.

Trial registration ESCAPE NCT01778335;SWIFT PRIME >NCT01657461; REVASCAT >NCT01692379; All post-results.

  • stroke
  • thrombectomy
  • stent
  • intervention

https://doi.org/10.1136/neurintsurg-2018-014061

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors NK: concept, design and development of the study, acquisition and analysis of the data, and writing of the article. YK: analysis of the data and writing of the article. HY: analysis of the data. ST: concept, design and development of the study and writing of the article.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests NK has been a consultant for Neurovasc. ST holds stock in Neurovasc and has been a consultant for Cerenovus, Medtronic, Neurovasc and Stryker.

    • Patient consent Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement Any technical detail concerning the creation of the model and the results are available from the corresponding author.