Utility of Pipeline embolization device for emergency recanalization of a dissecting carotid tonsillar loop: illustrative cases

Successful carotid stenting of a carotid arterial dissection after straightening the tortuosity using an inflated balloon guiding catheter and the delivery wire of an anchored stent retriever

The authors present a patient with carotid dissection in a tortuous arterial segment who successfully underwent carotid artery stenting (CAS) by straightening the tortuosity using an inflated balloon guiding catheter (BGC) and a stent retriever (SR). A 56-year-old man was transferred to our institute with right hemiparesis and a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of 9. Magnetic resonance imaging showed left internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion and ischemic change in the parietal lobe. Emergent angiography revealed tapered extracranial ICA occlusion sugg carotid artery dissection (CAD). CAS was attempted for CAD due to a mismatch of the motor area on clinical imaging. However, several attempts to navigate the stent delivery system over a guidewire failed. Therefore, we deployed a Trevo NXT ProVue SR (3 × 32 mm) in the middle cerebral artery, inflated a BGC, and then pulled on both to straighten the tortuous carotid artery, which resulted in successful navigation of the stent delivery system. The patient's symptoms improved after the recanalization. This case demonstrates the utility of a technique for navigation of a stent delivery system through a tortuous carotid artery in which the tortuosity is straightened by pulling on an inflated BGC and the delivery wire of the SR.