OBJECTIVES: Carotid artery stenting is an emerging revascularization alternative to carotid endarterectomy. However, guidelines have recommended carotid artery stenting only if the rate of periprocedural stroke or death is < 6% among symptomatic patients and < 3% among asymptomatic patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare clinical outcomes of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients who had undergone carotid artery stenting as a first-intention treatment. METHOD: A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent carotid artery stenting by our interventional neuroradiology team was conducted. Patients were divided into two groups: symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The primary endpoints were ipsilateral ischemic stroke, ipsilateral parenchymal hemorrhage and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events at 30 days. The secondary endpoints included ipsilateral ischemic stroke, ipsilateral parenchymal hemorrhage, ipsilateral transient ischemic attack and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events between the 1- and 12-month follow-ups. RESULTS: A total of 200 consecutive patients were evaluated. The primary endpoints obtained in the symptomatic vs. asymptomatic groups were ipsilateral stroke (2.4% vs. 2.7%, p = 1.00), ipsilateral parenchymal hemorrhage (0.8% vs. 0.0%, p = 1.00) and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (4.7% vs. 2.7%, p = 0.71). The secondary endpoints obtained in the symptomatic vs. asymptomatic groups were ipsilateral ischemic stroke (0.0% vs. 0.0%), ipsilateral parenchymal hemorrhage (0.0% vs. 0.0%), ipsilateral TIA (0.0% vs. 0.0%, p = 1.00) and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (11.2% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.11). CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective study, carotid artery stenting was similarly safe and effective when performed as a first-intention treatment in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The study results comply with the safety requirements from current recommendations to perform carotid artery stenting as an alternative treatment to carotid endarterectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Large vessel occlusion in acute ischemic stroke is associated with low recanalization rates under intravenous thrombolysis. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of the Solitaire AB stent in treating acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: Patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke were prospectively evaluated. The neurological outcomes were assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and the modified Rankin Scale. Time was recorded from the symptom onset to the recanalization and procedure time. Recanalization was assessed using the thrombolysis in cerebral infarction score. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were evaluated. The mean patient age was 65, and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores ranged from 7 to 28 (average 17±6.36) at presentation. The vessel occlusions occurred in the middle cerebral artery (61.9%), distal internal carotid artery (14.3%), tandem carotid occlusion (14.3%), and basilarartery (9.5%). Primary thrombectomy, rescue treatment and a bridging approach represented 66.6%, 28.6%, and 4.8% of the performed procedures, respectively. The mean time from symptom onset to recanalization was 356.5±107.8 minutes (range, 80-586 minutes). The mean procedure time was 60.4±58.8 minutes (range, 14-240 minutes). The overall recanalization rate (thrombolysis in cerebral infarction scores of 3 or 2b) was 90.4%, and the symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage rate was 14.2%. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores at discharge ranged from 0 to 25 (average 6.9±7). At three months, 61.9% of the patients had a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2, with an overall mortality rate of 9.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Intra-arterial thrombectomy with the Solitaire AB device appears to be safe and effective. Large randomized trials are necessary to confirm the benefits of this approach in acute ischemic stroke.

CONTEXTO: Disfagia orofaríngea é consequência frequente do acidente vascular encefálico (AVE). OBJETIVOS: Avaliar clinicamente a prevalência de alterações da deglutição, analisar os fatores associados com a disfunção e relacionar a presença de dificuldade de deglutição com a mortalidade após 3 meses do acidente vascular em pacientes com AVE. MÉTODO: A deglutição foi avaliada clinicamente em 212 pacientes consecutivos com diagnóstico médico e radiológico de AVE. Após 3 meses foi verificada a ocorrência de óbito. RESULTADOS: Entre os pacientes estudados, 63% apresentaram alteração da deglutição. As variáveis gênero e localização específica da lesão não estavam associadas à presença ou não de dificuldade de deglutição. Os pacientes com dificuldade de deglutição tinham: prévios episódios de AVE, AVE no hemisfério esquerdo, alterações motoras e/ou de sensibilidade, alterações na compreensão oral, expressão oral e nível de consciência, complicações como febre e pneumonia, e índices altos na escala de Rankin e baixos na escala de Barthel. Esses pacientes apresentaram maior mortalidade. CONCLUSÕES: A deglutição deve ser avaliada em todos os pacientes com AVE, considerando que alterações na deglutição estão associadas com complicações e com aumento na mortalidade.

CONTEXT: Stroke is a frequent cause of dysphagia. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in a tertiary care hospital the prevalence of swallowing dysfunction in stroke patients, to analyze factors associated with the dysfunction and to relate swallowing dysfunction to mortality 3 months after the stroke. METHODS: Clinical evaluation of deglutition was performed in 212 consecutive patients with a medical and radiologic diagnosis of stroke. The occurrence of death was determined 3 months after the stroke. RESULTS: It was observed that 63% of the patients had swallowing dysfunction. The variables gender and specific location of the lesion were not associated with the presence or absence of swallowing dysfunction. The patients with swallowing dysfunction had more frequently a previous stroke, had a stroke in the left hemisphere, motor and/or sensitivity alterations, difficulty in oral comprehension, alteration of oral expression, alteration of the level of consciousness, complications such as fever and pneumonia, high indexes on the Rankin scale, and low indexes on the Barthel scale. These patients had a higher mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: Swallowing evaluation should be done in all patients with stroke, since swallowing dysfunction is associated with complications and an increased risk of death.

O acidente vascular cerebral (AVC) é uma das principais causas de lesões permanentes em adultos, podendo provocar seqüelas motoras globais, alterações de fala, linguagem e deglutição. Durante a fase aguda, a detecção do risco de aspiração é fundamental para prevenir complicações pulmonares e permitir apropriadas intervenções terapêuticas, possibilitando alimentação por via oral precoce e segura. Na literatura, as correlações entre o distúrbio da deglutição e a localização da lesão em pacientes com AVC são inespecíficas. Desta forma, o objetivo do presente estudo foi determinar se existe correlação entre a localização das lesão vascular encefálica e a dificuldade de deglutição em pacientes com AVC isquêmico (AVCI). Foram incluídos 27 pacientes com AVCI que foram submetidos à avaliação clínica da deglutição no leito. Os resultados foram confrontados com resultados obtidos pela tomografia computadorizada do crânio, relacionados à localização das lesões. Na avaliação clínica, 48% dos pacientes apresentaram disfagia orofaríngea e 52% deglutição funcional. Em 84% dos pacientes disfágicos foram observadas alterações no território carotídeo, sendo 76% na artéria cerebral média (ACM). Nos pacientes com deglutição funcional 57% apresentaram alterações em ACM e 22% em artéria cerebral posterior. O hemisfério esquerdo foi afetado em 50% dos pacientes com deglutição funcional e em 46% dos disfágicos. Em conclusão, a localização hemisférica não está associada com a presença ou não de disfagia, porém a maioria dos pacientes disfágicos apresentou alterações no território carotídeo, notadamente na ACM.

Stroke is one of the main causes of permanent lesions in adults and can provoke global motor sequels, speech and language alterations, and swallowing. During the acute phase, the detection of aspiration risks is essential to prevent lung complications and to allow appropriate therapeutic interventions, making possible precocious oral feeding. In the literature, the correlations between the disturbance of the deglutition and the location of the lesion in patients with stroke are not specific. This way, the objective of the present study was to determine if correlation exists between the location of the vascular lesion and dysphagia in acute ischemic stroke patients. Bedside clinical evaluation of deglutition was made in 27 patients with acute ischemic stroke and the results were compared with the computed tomography findings. In the clinical evaluation, 48% patients were dysphagic and 52% had functional deglutition. In dysphagic patients, 84% had lesion in carotid territory, with 76% in the middle cerebral artery. In patients with functional deglutition, 57% had lesion in the middle cerebral artery and 22% in the posterior cerebral artery. In 50% of the patients with functional deglutition and in 46% of the dysphagics the lesion was in the left hemisphere. In conclusion, the hemispherical location is not associated with the presence or not of dysphagia, however most of the dysphagic patients presented alterations in the carotid territory, especially in the middle cerebral artery.