Safety and efficacy of stereotactic aspiration with fibrinolysis for deep-seated spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages: A single-center experience

Neuroendoscopic Surgery Versus Stereotactic Aspiration in the Treatment of Supratentorial Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Debate persists over the relative merits of neuroendoscopic surgery (NS) compared to stereotactic aspiration (SA) for treating supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Consequently, we undertook this meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of NS versus SA.

METHODS

We searched for the all-relevant studies systematically from English databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Three independent researchers identified and selected these literatures that met the inclusion criteria. Then we evaluated the quality of these studies according to the Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RevMan 5.4 statistical software was used to conduct this meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Sixteen studies, including 2722 supratentorial ICH patients, were included in our meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that NS could effectively improve the functional prognosis (P = 0.002), reduce the postoperative mortality (P < 0.00001), and increase the hematoma evacuation rate (P < 0.00001). In addition, SA had more advantages in shortening operation time (P < 0.00001) and reducing intraoperative blood loss (P < 0.0001). However, there was no obvious statistical difference in intensive care unit stays (P = 0.23) between NS and SA. Besides, no sufficient evidence could support a significant difference in hospital stays. In the aspect of complications, NS was discovered to have a positive effect on preventing rebleeding (P = 0.005) and intracranial infection (P = 0.003). However, no significant differences between the 2 groups in digestive tract ulcer (P = 0.34), epilepsy (P = 0.99), and pneumonia (P = 0.58) were discovered. In the subgroup analysis, factors including publication time, Glasgow Coma Scale score, age, and follow-up, all significantly influenced the good functional outcome and mortality. Meanwhile, NS behaved more advantageous in improving functional prognosis for patients with hematoma located in the basal ganglia.

CONCLUSIONS

NS may hold more advantages over SA in the treatment of supratentorial ICH. However, SA is also an effective and suitable alternative for elderly patients, especially those with multiple comorbidities intolerant to extended surgical procedures. Further high-quality studies are warranted to substantiate our findings in the future.

Effects of stereotactic aspiration on brainstem hemorrhage in a case series

Purpose

Brainstem hemorrhage is usually treated conservatively with medication and has high mortality and morbidity rates. Stereotactic aspiration can directly and microinvasively draw out the hemorrhage within a narrow space in the brainstem, thus promoting quick recovery and potentially saving the life of the patient. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of stereotactic aspiration on patients with brainstem hemorrhage in a case series.

Materials and methods

A total of 42 patients with brainstem hemorrhage were enrolled for stereotactic aspiration of the brain hemorrhage, and another 30 patients with brainstem hemorrhage were enrolled for conservative treatment. The clinical and imaging data were analyzed and compared.

Results

Stereotactic aspiration was successful in all patients (100%), with immediate elimination of hematoma in the brainstem. In five patients with the hemorrhage extending to the fourth ventricle (n = 1) and basal ganglia (n = 4), the hemorrhage was eliminated, resulting in good outcomes. However, four patients died of multiple organ failure after aspiration, resulting in a mortality rate of 9.5%. One week after surgery, the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score ranged from 3 to 11 (mean 5.9 ± 2.3). At 1-month follow-up, 4 patients died, and 36 patients survived, with the GCS score ranging between 3 and 15 (mean 8.6 ± 2.1), which was significantly (P &lt; 0.01) higher than that before surgery. The Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was 5 before treatment, 5 (4.4, 6) at 1 week after surgery, and 5 (4, 6) at 1 month. In the conservative group, 16 (53.3%) patients died during hospitalization. The GCS score was 0–6 (mean 2.3 ± 1.1), which was significantly (P &lt; 0.05) worse than at admission or of that in the aspiration group at 1 month. The mRS score at 1 month was 6 (5, 6), which was significantly (P &lt; 0.05) worse than that in the aspiration group.

Conclusion

Stereotactic aspiration for brainstem hemorrhage as an approach of microinvasiveness may be effective in evacuating brainstem hemorrhage and may promote quick recovery of the patient, resulting in better clinical outcomes.

Stereotactic Aspiration of Necrotic Brain Tissue for Treating Malignant Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction: A Report of 13 Consecutive Cases

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of stereotactic aspiration of necrotic brain tissue for treating malignant middle cerebral artery infarction (MMI) in patients older than 60 years of age.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A total of 13 consecutive patients with MMI (mean age, 67 ± 6.62 years) were enrolled in the study. These patients were treated with stereotactic aspiration of necrotic brain tissue within 72 hours from stroke onset between January 2016 and June 2017. The surgical results and clinical outcomes were evaluated in response to stereotactic aspiration of necrotic brain tissue. The mean preoperative infarction volume in the patients was found to be 153.46 ± 9.39 mL according to the latest computed tomography scan. The 30-day mortality was 2 out of 13 patients (15.4%). Patients were followed-up for 6 months to evaluate the efficacy of stereotactic aspiration of necrotic brain tissue using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Among the 11 surviving surgical patients, 6 (54.5%) had an mRS score of 3 (defined as moderate disability), 4 (36.4%) had an mRS score of 4 (defined as moderate to severe disability), and 1 (9.1%) had an mRS score of 5 (defined as severe disability). The probability of 6-month unfavorable outcome, defined as an mRS score of 5 or 6 (death), was 3 out of 13 (23.1%).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest the stereotactic aspiration of necrotic brain tissue is an effective and safe method in patients with MMI who are over 60 years of age.

The max-intracerebral hemorrhage score predicts long-term outcome of intracerebral hemorrhage

AIMS

Little is known about the performance of the maximally treated intracerebral hemorrhage (max-ICH) score in predicting unfavorable long-term functional outcome and death in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in China. We aimed to validate the performance of the max-ICH score and compared it with other recognized scores.

METHODS

We derived data from the China National Stroke Registry (CNSR). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used to measure the score performance. We compared the performance of max-ICH score with six recognized models, including the ICH score, ICH functional outcome score (ICH-FOS), Essen-ICH score, modified intracerebral hemorrhage (MICH) score, intracerebral hemorrhage grading scale (ICH-GS), and functional outcome (FUNC) score.

RESULTS

A total of 2581 patients with spontaneous ICH were enrolled in the study. The max-ICH score was similar or superior to the six existing scores in predicting long-term unfavorable functional outcome after ICH with good discrimination (AUC 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81-0.84) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow P = 0.19). For predicting death, the AUC of max-ICH was 0.81 (95% CI 0.79-0.83).

CONCLUSIONS

The easy-to-use max-ICH score is a reliable tool to predict unfavorable long-term (12-month) functional outcome and death after intracerebral hemorrhage in the Chinese population.