Venous sinus stenting improves cerebral autoregulation in a patient with venous sinus stenosis: a case report

Venous Pathologies and Interventions of the Head

Intracranial venous pathologies are a historically underrecognized group of disorders that can have a devastating impact on patients. Despite advancements in peripheral venous disorders and arterial neurointerventions, intracranial venous pathologies have received comparatively little attention. Understanding the anatomy, physiology, clinical relevance, and treatment options of intracranial venous pathologies is fundamental to evolving therapies and research priorities. This article provides an overview of major intracranial venous pathologies, the respective pathophysiologies, and treatment options.

Improvement of exhausted cerebral autoregulation in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension benefit of venous sinus stenting

Objective.To evaluate the cerebral autoregulation (CA) in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) patients with transfer function analysis, and to explore its improvement after venous sinus stenting.Approach. In total, 15 consecutive IIH patients with venous sinus stenosis and 15 controls were recruited. All the patients underwent digital subtraction angiography and venous manometry. Venous sinus stenting was performed for IIH patients with a trans-stenosis pressure gradient ≥8 mmHg. CA was assessed before and after the operation with transfer function analysis, by using the spontaneous oscillations of the cerebral blood flow velocity in the bilateral middle cerebral artery and blood pressure.Main results. Compared with controls, the autoregulatory parameters, phase shift and rate of recovery, were both significantly lower in IIH patients [(57.94° ± 23.22° versus 34.59° ± 24.15°,p < 0.001; (39.87 ± 21.95) %/s versus (20.56 ± 46.66) %/s,p= 0.045, respectively). In total, six patients with bilateral transverse or sigmoid sinus stenosis received venous sinus stenting, in whom, the phase shift significantly improved after venous sinus stenting (39.62° ± 20.26° versus 22.79° ± 19.96°,p = 0.04).Significance. The study revealed that dynamic CA was impaired in IIH patients and was improved after venous sinus stenting. CA assessment has the potential to be used for investigating the hemodynamics in IIH patients.