You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Ischemic stroke
Review
Endovascular treatment of anterior cerebral artery occlusions
  1. Mayank Goyal1,2,
  2. Petra Cimflova1,3,
  3. Johanna Maria Ospel4,
  4. René Chapot5
  1. 1 Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
  2. 2 Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
  3. 3 Department of Medical Imaging, Fakultní nemocnice u sv Anny v Brně, Brno, Jihomoravský, Czech Republic
  4. 4 Division of Neuroradiology, Clinic of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Universitatsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  5. 5 Department of Neuroradiology, Alfried Krupp Hospital Ruttenscheid, Essen, Germany
  1. Correspondence to Dr Mayank Goyal, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; mgoyal2412{at}gmail.com

Abstract

There are limited data on endovascular treatment (EVT) for anterior cerebral artery (ACA) occlusions. This review focuses on aspects related to ACA EVT: ACA anatomy, clinical and imaging findings, prognosis of ACA stroke, and ACA thrombectomy techniques. The ACA anatomy, and the regions supplied by the ACA, are highly variable; frequent anatomical variants include azygos ACA, triplicated ACA and fenestrations of the anterior communicating artery. ACA occlusions can be classified based on occlusion location, their continuity with other vessel occlusions (isolated ACA occlusion vs ACA occlusion as part of a carotid T occlusion) and etiology (primary—spontaneous ACA occlusion, vs secondary—spontaneous or iatrogenic due to clot fragmentation/migration). Symptoms of ACA stroke differ in severity and nature due to large inter-individual variations in territorial ACA blood supply. Generally, ACA strokes are severely disabling, and the typical clinical hallmark is a motor deficit of the contralateral lower extremity. Advanced imaging (CT perfusion, multiphase CT angiography) increases the likelihood of the correct diagnosis of ACA stroke and should be obtained on routine basis.

Available data for ACA EVT suggest its feasibility and safety while clinical outcomes are often unfavorable with conservative management. Therefore, the potential benefit of EVT seems obvious. An optimized endovascular approach for ACA thrombectomy comprises the development and use of smaller and softer devices that can be delivered through small microcatheters with an optimized vector of force. Ultimately, generating high-level evidence for ACA EVT from randomized trials remains warranted.

  • stroke
  • thrombectomy
  • intervention

https://doi.org/10.1136/neurintsurg-2021-017735

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Twitter @johanna_ospel

    • Contributors All authors contributed to the manuscript conception. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JO, PC and MG. RC did a critical revision of the manuscript. All authors contributed equally to the manuscript revisions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

    • 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 MG reports consultancy for Medtronic, Stryker, Microvention, GE Healthcare, Mentice, outside the submitted work; editorial board membership at Stroke (Consulting Editor); and in addition, MG has a patent for systems of acute stroke diagnosis issued and licensed. PC has nothing to disclose. JMO has nothing to disclose. RC reports consultancy and/or proctorship for BALT, Stryker, Microvention, Rapid Medical, Siemens Medical Systems, outside the submitted work.

    • 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.