Nimodipine-induced junctional bradycardia in an elderly patient with subarachnoid hemorrhage

Beyond nimodipine: advanced neuroprotection strategies for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia

The clinical management of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-associated vasospasm remains a challenge in neurosurgical practice, with its prevention and treatment having a major impact on neurological outcome. While considered a mainstay, nimodipine is burdened by some non-negligible limitations that make it still a suboptimal candidate of pharmacotherapy for SAH. This narrative review aims to provide an update on the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, overall evidence, and strength of recommendation of nimodipine alternative drugs for aneurysmal SAH-associated vasospasm and delayed cerebral ischemia. A PRISMA literature search was performed in the PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and PubChem databases using a combination of the MeSH terms "medical therapy," "management," "cerebral vasospasm," "subarachnoid hemorrhage," and "delayed cerebral ischemia." Collected articles were reviewed for typology and relevance prior to final inclusion. A total of 346 articles were initially collected. The identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion process resulted in the selection of 59 studies. Nicardipine and cilostazol, which have longer half-lives than nimodipine, had robust evidence of efficacy and safety. Eicosapentaenoic acid, dapsone and clazosentan showed a good balance between effectiveness and favorable pharmacokinetics. Combinations between different drug classes have been studied to a very limited extent. Nicardipine, cilostazol, Rho-kinase inhibitors, and clazosentan proved their better pharmacokinetic profiles compared with nimodipine without prejudice with effective and safe neuroprotective role. However, the number of trials conducted is significantly lower than for nimodipine. Aneurysmal SAH-associated vasospasm remains an area of ongoing preclinical and clinical research where the search for new drugs or associations is critical.

Nimodipine-associated standard dose reductions and neurologic outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: the era of pharmacogenomics

Nimodipine, an L-type cerebroselective calcium channel antagonist, is the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the neuroprotection of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Four randomized, placebo-controlled trials of nimodipine demonstrated clinical improvement over placebo; however, these occurred before precision medicine with pharmacogenomics was readily available. The standard enteral dose of nimodipine recommended after aSAH is 60 mg every 4 h. However, up to 78% of patients with aSAH develop systemic arterial hypotension after taking the drug at the recommended dose, which could theoretically limit its neuroprotective role and worsen cerebral perfusion pressure and cerebral blood flow, particularly when concomitant vasospasm is present. We investigated the association between nimodipine dose changes and clinical outcomes in a consecutive series of 150 patients (mean age, 56 years; 70.7% women) with acute aSAH. We describe the pharmacogenomic relationship of nimodipine dose reduction with clinical outcomes. These results have major implications for future individualized dosing of nimodipine in the era of precision medicine.

Safety and Tolerability of Concentrated Intraventricular Nicardipine for Poor-Grade Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage–Related Vasospasm

Objective: To report the preliminary safety, tolerability, and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) sampling utility of serial injections of concentrated intraventricular nicardipine (IVN) in the treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods: We report the clinical, radiographic, and laboratory safety and tolerability data of a retrospective case series from a single academic medical center. All patients with aSAH developed vasospasm despite enteral nimodipine and received serial injections of concentrated IVN (2.5 mg/mL). CSF injection safety, tolerability, and utility are defined and reported. Results: A total of 59 doses of concentrated IVN were administered to three patients with poor-grade SAH. In Case 1, a 33-year-old man with modified Fisher scale (mFS) grade 4 and Hunt-Hess scale (HH) score 4 received 26 doses; in Case 2, a 36-year-old woman with mFS grade 4 and HH score 5 received 13 doses; and in Case 3, a 70-year-old woman with mFS grade 3 and HH score 4 received 20 doses. No major safety or tolerability events occurred. Two patients were discharged to a rehabilitation facility, and one died after discharge from the hospital. Conclusions: A concentrated 4 mg IVN dose (2.5 mg/mL) in a 1.6 mL injection appears relatively safe and tolerable and potentially offers a second-line strategy for treating refractory vasospasm in poor-grade SAH without compromising intracranial pressure or cerebral perfusion pressure.

High-Quality Nursing Combined with the Whole-Course Responsibility Nursing Intervention Reduces the Incidence of Complications in Severe Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Objective

The aim of this study is to study the influence of whole-course responsibility nursing combined with high-quality nursing intervention on the level of life and complications of severe aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients with postoperative coma.

Methods

From December 2018 to December 2020, 90 severe aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients with postoperative coma were selected and were divided into two groups, the experimental group and the control group, with 45 cases in each group. The control group adopted conventional nursing care, and the experimental group received whole-course responsibility nursing combined with high-quality nursing intervention. The nursing effect, degree of coma, coma recovery, and incidence of complications between all groups were compared.

Results

Compared with the control group, the experimental group yielded more favorable achievement in terms of the nursing effect (P < 0.05). Superior levels of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) score, GQOLI-74 score, and BI score of the experimental group were obtained and compared with the control group (all P < 0.05). The experimental group witnessed a lower complication rate, as compared to the other group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The whole-course responsibility nursing combined with high-quality nursing intervention is applied to severe aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients with postoperative coma, which can substantially optimize the nursing efficiency, improve the degree of coma, help recover consciousness, ameliorate the mental state and the quality of life, and reduce the incidence of complications, which is worthy of clinical application.

Nimodipine Pharmacokinetic Variability in Various Patient Populations

Nimodipine has been shown to improve outcomes following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Guidelines recommend that all patients receive a fixed dose of oral nimodipine for 21 days. However, pharmacokinetic studies have suggested variability of nimodipine pharmacokinetics in subarachnoid hemorrhage and in other patient populations. The clinical relevance of such variability is unknown. Therefore, the objective of the present review is, first, to conduct a literature review and summarize nimodipine pharmacokinetic data and sources of variability in various patient groups. Second, to determine if there is any evidence reporting an association between nimodipine exposure and clinical outcomes in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. A systematic literature search was performed in MEDLINE and EMBASE. The following keywords were used: ("nimodipine" OR "nymalize" OR "nimotop") AND ("pharmacokinetic*", OR "PK"). The search results were limited to English language and human studies. A large interpatient variability in nimodipine pharmacokinetics has been reported. Patient-specific factors that had an influence on pharmacokinetic parameters are age, comorbidities, variabilities in metabolism due to genetic polymorphism and co-administered medications, as well as nimodipine administration technique. The association between nimodipine exposure and clinical outcomes remains unclear and data available are too scarce to reach a firm conclusion. Here, we present a narrative review with a systematic literature search discussing nimodipine pharmacokinetic variability in various patient populations. It is not clear if minimal or lack of systemic exposure to nimodipine denies its benefit and contributes to worsening outcomes in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Further studies are needed to determine if such an association exists.