Work of a stroke team: experience of transferring ischemic stroke patients from district hospitals to Krasnoyarsk Regional Vascular Center for thrombectomy

Modern high-technology methods for ischemic stroke treatment (systemic thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy, thrombaspiration, stenting of cerebral arteries) can improve the rehabilitation potential and survival of patients. Important tasks here are selection for reperfusion and its performance on the greatest possible number of peracute patients. Mechanical thrombectomy combined with systemic thrombolysis is the most effective reperfusion strategy in the therapeutic window, but the availability of endovascular methods is limited to highly specialized centres. One way to solve this problem is to organize effective logistics with stroke patients, which will provide high-tech care for patients living far from large treatment centers due to regulated interaction between institutions at different levels.The aim of the study was to improve emergency interaction related to transfer of peracute stroke patients from primary vascular units and district hospitals of the Krasnoyarsk region to Krasnoyarsk Regional Vascular Center for thrombectomy.

8-year follow-up of a successful outcome of massive pulmonary embolism with cardiogenic shock

Currently pulmonary embolism (PE) is already on the 3rd place in terms of the frequency of occurrence among vascular diseases, and there is a global trend towards an increase in its frequency. PE is also considered as the most common cause of preventable death in the hospital. In the countries of Europe, Asia and the USA, there is a tendency to reduce the cases of fatal PE due to the use of more effective conservative therapy, invasive interventions and following the Recommendations. Since 2019, the European Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of PE have made the use of direct oral anticoagulants preferable in comparison with oral vitamin K antagonists.A case of massive PE in a 42-year-old patient developed in the specialized department of the hospital shortly after being transferred from the intensive care unit with verified PE of small branches (D-dimer, lung scintigraphy, Echo-cardiography) is presented. The debut of a massive PE in the form of a syncopal state with cardiogenic shock, required an urgent transfer of the patient to artificial lung ventilation, the use of vasopressors and systemic thrombolysis. During Echo-cardiography, a mobile blood clot was located in the right atrium. An emergency thrombectomy was performed from the pulmonary trunk and pulmonary arteries in conditions of artificial blood circulation, later a cava filter was installed. The features of anamnesis characteristic of PE (hormonal contraceptives), complaints (sudden shortness of breath, heaviness behind the sternum at admission) and concomitant pathology (drug-induced thyrotoxicosis) are analyzed.The results of the subsequent 8-year follow-up without relapses of PE are considered, the feature of which was the use of Rivaroxaban as an anticoagulant and angiovit (B vitamins – 6, 9 and 12) for the correction of hereditary hyperhomocysteinemia. Risk factors and modern standards of treatment of massive PE in the acute period and in the long term are discussed.

Ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis in high-risk perioperative pulmonary embolism: two case reports and review of literature

Introduction Treatment of high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) in perioperative patients remains challenging. Systemic thrombolysis is associated with a high risk of major bleedings and intracranial haemorrhage. High mortality rates are reported for open pulmonary embolectomy. Therefore, postoperative surgical patients may benefit substantially from catheter-directed ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis (USAT). Case presentation We report two cases of high-risk perioperative PE. Both patients developed severe haemodynamic instability leading to cardiac arrest. After the implantation of a veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), they were both successfully treated with USAT. Adequate improvement of right ventricular function was achieved; thus, ECMO could be successfully weaned after 3 and 4 days, respectively. Both patients showed favourable outcomes and could be discharged to rehabilitation. Conclusion Current guidelines on treatment of PE offer no specific therapies for perioperative patients with high-risk PE. However, systemic thrombolysis is often excluded due to the perioperative setting and the risk of major bleeding. Catheter-directed thrombolysis was shown to utilise less thrombolytic agent while obtaining comparable thrombolytic effects. The risk for major bleeding (including intracranial haemorrhage) is also significantly lowered. Until further trials determining the value of adopted treatment strategies of high-risk PE in perioperative patients are available, USAT should be considered in similar cases.

Successful endovascular treatment of simultaneous acute ischaemic stroke and hyperacute ST elevation myocardial infarction: the first case report of a single-operator cardio-cerebral intervention

Background The simultaneous management of cardio-cerebral infarctions is an extremely difficult task, as both organs need to receive reperfusion therapy in a limited time to avoid death or permanent disability. The following case is the first published endovascular treatment of synchronous heart & brain infarctions delivered by a single operator with excellent clinical outcome. Case summary A 67-year-old female patient was directly transported to the emergency room of a comprehensive stroke centre with acute onset global aphasia and right hemiplegia. The onset to admission time exceeded the 4,5-hours’ time window of systemic thrombolysis. Head CT excluded extensive early extensive brain damage, CTA documented left middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCA) and mechanical thrombectomy was indicated. Extensive anterior ST elevation was detected on the transport monitor while waiting for in-hospital transfer. The two simultaneously evolving pathologies were handled in a single endovascular procedure that took less than 60 minutes by a dual-trained interventional cardiologist/neurointerventional surgeon. The patient recovered without any major cardiac or neurologic sequela. Discussion Interventional cardiologists, professionally trained through a neuro-interventional fellowship program to perform endovascular stroke interventions according to the latest multi-society position paper, could not only complement stroke teams lacking manpower, but their unique experience could also help the patients suffering from the most devastating forms of cardio-cerebral infarctions.

Case fatality rate and fatal bleeding complication in patients with pulmonary embolism and patent foramen ovale

Objectives In patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), right atrial pressure is elevated, which increases risk for right-to-left shunt when patent foramen ovale (PFO) is present and thus potentially increases risk for paradoxical embolism. Little is known about the clinical outcome of patients with PE and concomitant PFO. Methods We analysed data on patient characteristics, treatments and in-hospital outcomes for all PE patients (ICD-code I26) with concomitant presence of PFO in Germany 2005–2018 (source: Research Data Center (RDC) of the Federal Statistical Office and the Statistical Offices of the federal states, DRG Statistics 2005–2018, and own calculations). Results Between January 2005 and December 2018, 1,174,235 patients with acute PE (53.5% females) were included in this analysis; of those, 5,486 (0.5%) had a concomitant diagnosis of PFO. Trends analysis demonstrating an increasing frequency of diagnosed PE with additional PFO from 2005 (n=299) to 2018 (n=556; p<0.001). While patients with PE and PFO presented more often with signs of haemodynamic compromise such RV dysfunction (37.6% vs. 28.5%) or shock (7.1% vs. 3.9%) as well as paradox arterial emboli (47.8% vs. 3.2%) or intracerebral bleeding (3.3% vs. 0.6%), PE patients with PFO died less often compared to PE patients without PFO (11.1% vs. 15.8%). Patients with PE and PFO were younger (65 [IQR 52–75] vs. 72 [60–80]; P<0.001) and were more often treated invasively with a reperfusion treatment approach like embolectomy (10.2% vs. 4.2%) or systemic thrombolysis (5.0% vs 0.1%). A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a 27.6-fold increased risk for paradox arterial emboli (OR, 27.6 [95% CI 26.1–29.1]; p<0.001) and a 3.9-fold increased risk for intracerebral bleeding events (OR, 3.9 [95% CI 3.3–4.54]; p<0.001) for patients with PE and concomitant PFO. In normotensive patients with RVD and PFO, embolectomy were not associated to affect the rate of intracerebral bleeding events (OR, 0.8 [95% CI 0.2–2.6]; p=0.720) compared to conventional non-reperfusion treatment; instead of systemic thrombolysis, which is associated with a higher risk of intracerebral bleeding (OR, 3.5 [95% CI 1.8–6.59]; p<0.001) compared to conventional non-reperfusion treatment. Conclusion Patients with acute PE and the concomitant presence of PFO are associated with a high risk for paradox arterial emboli and intracranial bleeding events. Especially in normotensive patients, the use of systemic thrombolysis should be considered with cautious. Thus, our findings may improve the clinical management of patients with PE and PFO. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

High-risk acute pulmonary embolism in a Portuguese centre: are we doing enough?

Introduction For high-risk acute Pulmonary Embolism patients (HR-PE pts), reperfusion treatment is imperative to improve mortality. Although systemic thrombolysis (ST) is generally an appropriate first-line therapy, several population-based studies report its underuse. Data on epidemiology, management and outcomes of HR-PE in Portugal is scarce. Purpose Estimate the reperfusion rate in HR-PE pts, the reasons for non-reperfusion (NR) and how it influences outcomes. Methods Retrospective single-centre registry of consecutive HR-PE pts between 2008–2018, defined by the 2019 ESC guidelines criteria. Independent predictors for NR were assessed by multivariate logistic regression. The cumulative incidence of PE-related mortality at 30 days was calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method and differences stratified by reperfusion were assessed using the log-rank test. Results Of a total of 1955 pts admitted with acute PE, 74 (3.8%) had HD instability at admission (mean age 68±15 years). The majority of pts (68.5%) came from the emergency department while the remaining 31.5% were already hospitalized for other reasons. The total reperfusion rate was 50% - 35pts were submitted to systemic thrombolysis, 1pt to first-line percutaneous embolectomy and 1pt to rescue endovascular treatment. Age was an independent predictor of NR (63±17 vs 73±12, p=0.02) with >75 years representing 15 times the risk of non-treatment (OR 15.5, 95% CI 3.23–74.25, p<0.001). Absolute contraindication for thrombolysis was present in 29.7% (22pts), with recent major surgery (13pts) and recent cerebral event (8pts) as the most common reasons. The presence of an absolute contraindication for systemic thrombolysis was also an independent predictor of NR (66.7% vs 13.6%; OR 13.3, 95% CI 2.51–70.65, p=0.002). Being hospitalized was associated with the presence of absolute contraindications for thrombolysis (68.2% vs 14.0%, p<0.001) and was also an independent predictor of NR (38% vs 77.3%; OR 8.49, 95% CI 1.56–46.11, p=0.013). PE-related death at 30 days was 28.4% (21pts), which was significantly lower in the reperfusion group (17.1% vs 38.9%, p=0.042). At a mean follow-up of 2.5±3.3 years, survival rate was 33.8% (figure 1). Conclusions Low reperfusion rate due to contraindications for thrombolysis was associated with high PE-related mortality. This data suggests that it is necessary to implement interventional alternative strategies, at a national level, to improve outcomes. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1. Survival rate according to reperfusion.

Management of Submassive Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism in an Adolescent Female

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a rare presentation in the pediatric population. We report a case of submassive PE in an adolescent female following commencement of a combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP). In the setting of cardiac dysfunction, she received systemic thrombolysis with significant reduction of clot burden and clinical improvement objectively demonstrated shortly thereafter. This case highlights challenges in clinical decision-making regarding surgical or catheter-based interventions versus medical management approaches when addressing life-threatening PE in children. Our case demonstrates that submassive PE in pediatrics can be managed successfully with systemic thrombolysis and therapeutic anticoagulation.