Introduction:
Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with a high morbidity and mortality rate despite current medical management. The benefits of open surgical evacuation for ICH remain controversial. Here we present initial results of the effectiveness of stereotactic image-guided endoscopic evacuation of ICH.
Methods:
Over 9-years, 41 patients with ICH (age 65+−14 years, 66% male, average admission GCS 10 & ICH Score 2, 46% with concurrent intraventricular hemorrhage) were treated. The current technique, which evolved from using direct endoscopic visualization, uses frameless stereotactic guidance alone to aspirate at two specified locations within the hematoma. An endoscope sheath is introduced through a bur hole into the hematoma along its long axis. Suction is applied to the sheath, without endoscopic viewing, at two locations, 1/3 and 2/3 of the way through the long-axis of the ICH. Endoscopic visualization of the cavity is then performed to ensure hemostasis. ICH volume was calculated using pre- and postoperative CT measurements ((length x width x height)/2).
Results:
Pre- and postoperative ICH volumes averaged 56.5 and 15.9cc, respectively, a reduction of 67.6+−41.9% (p<0.0001) with greater than 50% reduction in 78% of patients. Within 30 days, two patients (5%) developed rebleeding, one with acutely increased hematoma volume on postop CT. Average preop modified Rankin Score (mRS) decreased from 4.4 to 4.1 at follow-up (p=0.17). Seven-day and 30-day mortality occurred in 5 (12%) and 1 (2.4%) patients, respectively. This 30-day mortality compares favorably with the predicted rate of 26% based on average ICH score of 2 for the series. There were 2 surgical complications including ipsilateral ischemic stroke and subdural hematoma. Comparing the current aspiration technique to the previous technique, there were trends towards greater average reduction in hematoma volume (81.7% versus 58.5%, respectively, p=0.08) and greater improvement in clinical outcome (average mRS improvement 0.75 points versus 0 points, respectively, p=0.08).
Conclusions:
Image-guided endoscopic evacuation is a minimally-invasive approach to reduce ICH volume. Greater than 50% reduction in hematoma volume was achieved in the large majority of patients. Further study is required to evaluate the impact of endoscopic ICH evacuation on clinical outcomes compared to other treatments.