Article Text
Abstract
Introduction The Walrus balloon guide catheter (BGC) is a new generation of BGC, designed to eliminate conventional limitations during mechanical thrombectomy.
Objective To report a multi-institutional experience using this BGC for proximal flow control (PFC) in the setting of carotid artery angioplasty/stenting (CAS) in elective (eCAS) and tandem strokes (tCAS).
Methods Prospectively maintained databases at 8 North American centers were queried to identify patients with cervical carotid disease undergoing eCAS/tCAS with a Walrus BGC.
Results 110 patients (median age 68, 64.6% male), 80 (72.7%) undergoing eCAS and 30 (27.3%) tCAS procedures, were included (median cervical carotid stenosis 90%; 46 (41.8%) with contralateral stenosis). Using a proximal flow-arrest technique in 95 (87.2%) and flow-reversal in 14 (12.8%) procedures, the Walrus was navigated into the common carotid artery successfully in all cases despite challenging arch anatomy (31, 28.2%), with preferred femoral access (103, 93.6%) and in monitored anesthesia care (90, 81.8%). Angioplasty and distal embolic protection devices (EPDs) were used in 91 (83.7%) and 58 (52.7%) procedures, respectively. tCAS led to a modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2b/3 in all cases. Periprocedural ischemic stroke (up to 30 days postoperatively) rate was 0.9% (n=1) and remote complications occurred in 2 (1.8%) cases. Last follow-up modified Rankin Scale score of 0–2 was seen in 95.3% of eCAS cohort, with no differences in complications in the eCAS subgroup between PFC only versus PFC and distal EPD (median follow-up 4.1 months).
Conclusion Walrus BGC for proximal flow control is safe and effective during eCAS and tCAS. Procedural success was achieved in all cases, with favorable safety and functional outcomes on short-term follow-up.
- atherosclerosis
- balloon
- stroke
- cervical
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Footnotes
Twitter @amdbaig, @PascalJabbourMD, @PeterKa80460001, @cgriessenauer
Correction notice Since this article was first published online, the author Omar Tanweer has been added to the manuscript.
Contributors All authors contributed to the study conception and design and/or data acquisition. The conception of the idea was done by J-KB and MMS. Literature review and data extraction were performed by MMS and SK. The first draft of the paper was done by MMS. All authors contributed to the editing of prior versions, read and approved the final version of the manuscript. Jan-Karl Burkhardt acts as guarantor and accepts full responsibility for the finished work and/or the conduct of the study, had access to the data, and controlled the decision to publish.
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 PK is a member of the JNIS editorial board (education chair).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.
Linked Articles
- Letter
- Letter