Current knowledge of large vascular occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerosis: focusing on early diagnosis

He Li; Peng Liu; Pei Liu; Weilong Hua; Wenjin Yang; Yongxin Zhang; Lei Zhang; Pengfei Xing; Zifu Li; Yongwei Zhang; Bo Hong; Pengfei Yang; Jianmin Liu

doi:10.1186/s41016-020-00213-1

Current knowledge of large vascular occlusion due to intracranial atherosclerosis: focusing on early diagnosis

Chin Neurosurg J. 2020 Oct 1:6:32. doi: 10.1186/s41016-020-00213-1. eCollection 2020.

Authors

He Li^{1

2}, Peng Liu^{1

2}, Pei Liu^{1

2}, Weilong Hua^{1

2}, Wenjin Yang^{1

2}, Yongxin Zhang^{1

2}, Lei Zhang^{1

2}, Pengfei Xing², Zifu Li^{1

2}, Yongwei Zhang², Bo Hong^{1

2}, Pengfei Yang^{1

2}, Jianmin Liu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Changhai Hospital, Changhai Road Num. 168, Shanghai, 200433 China.
² Stroke Center, Changhai Hospital, Changhai Road Num. 168, Shanghai, 200433 China.

Abstract

Intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS)-related large vascular occlusion (LVO) was an intractable subtype of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), which always needed rescue angioplasty and stenting and complicated the procedure of endovascular recanalization. Diagnosing ICAS-LVO accurately and early was helpful for both clinical treatment and trials. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was unable to provide an early and rapid diagnosis of ICAS-LVO based on current studies. A variety of pre-DSA methods had been used to distinguish ICAS-LVO with other subtypes of ischemic stroke, such as medical histories, clinical presentations, computed tomography or angiography (CT/CTA), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI/MRA). This article briefly reviewed the status quo of the diagnosis and treatment of ICAS-LVO and summarized early diagnostic methods of ICAS-LVO from different aspects.

Keywords: AIS; Acute ischemic stroke; Diagnosis; ICAS; ICAS-LVO; Intracranial atherosclerosis; LVO; Large vascular occlusion.

Publication types

Review