scholarly journals Medical Management of Cerebral Vasospasm following Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Review of Current and Emerging Therapeutic Interventions

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Adamczyk ◽  
Shuhan He ◽  
Arun Paul Amar ◽  
William J. Mack

Cerebral vasospasm is a major source of morbidity and mortality in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Evidence suggests a multifactorial etiology and this concept remains supported by the assortment of therapeutic modalities under investigation. The authors provide an updated review of the literature for previous and recent clinical trials evaluating medical treatments in patients with cerebral vasospasm secondary to aSAH. Currently, the strongest evidence supports use of prophylactic oral nimodipine and initiation of triple-H therapy for patients in cerebral vasospasm. Other agents presented in this report include magnesium, statins, endothelin receptor antagonists, nitric oxide promoters, free radical scavengers, thromboxane inhibitors, thrombolysis, anti-inflammatory agents and neuroprotectants. Although promising data is beginning to emerge for several treatments, few prospective randomized clinical trials are presently available. Additionally, future investigational efforts will need to resolve discrepant definitions and outcome measures for cerebral vasospasm in order to permit adequate study comparisons. Until then, definitive recommendations cannot be made regarding the safety and efficacy for each of these therapeutic strategies and medical management practices will continue to be implemented in a wide-ranging manner.

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Mocco ◽  
Brad E. Zacharia ◽  
Ricardo J. Komotar ◽  
E. Sander Connolly

✓In an effort to help clarify the current state of medical therapy for cerebral vasospasm, the authors reviewed the relevant literature on the established medical therapies used for cerebral vasospasm following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), and they discuss burgeoning areas of investigation. Despite advances in the treatment of aneurysmal SAH, cerebral vasospasm remains a common complication and has been correlated with a 1.5- to threefold increase in death during the first 2 weeks after hemorrhage. A number of medical, pharmacological, and surgical therapies are currently in use or being investigated in an attempt to reverse cerebral vasospasm, but only a few have proven to be useful. Although much has been elucidated regarding its pathophysiology, the treatment of cerebral vasospasm remains a dilemma. Although a poor understanding of SAH-induced cerebral vasospasm pathophysiology has, to date, hampered the development of therapeutic interventions, current research efforts promise the eventual production of new medical therapies.


2000 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Polin ◽  
Volker A. Coenen ◽  
Carolyn Apperson Hansen ◽  
Peter Shin ◽  
Mustafa K. Baskaya ◽  
...  

Object. Transluminal angioplasty has become a widely used adjunct therapy to medical management of symptomatic cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Despite anecdotal reports of universal, angiographically confirmed reversal of vasospasm and high rates of clinical improvement, no rigorous examination of the efficacy of this procedure has been conducted. In this study the authors assess the efficacy of the aforementioned procedure.Methods. Thirty-eight patients enrolled as part of the North American trial of tirilazad in aneurysmal SAH underwent transluminal angioplasty for symptomatic cerebral vasospasm. Fifty-three percent of these patients showed good recovery or moderate disability based on their 3-month Glasgow Outcome Scale score.Among the 38 patients who underwent angioplasty, the severity and type of vasospasm, use of papaverine in addition to balloon angioplasty, timing of treatment, and dose of study drug did not have an effect on the outcome. The results of their neurological examinations improved in only four of the 38 patients immediately after the procedure. A conditional logistic regression analysis was performed in which these patients were compared with individuals matched for age, sex, dose of study drug, admission neurological grade, and modified Glasgow Coma Scale score at the time of angioplasty. No effect on favorable outcomes was found for this procedure.Conclusions. Transluminal cerebral angioplasty is very effective in reversing angiographically confirmed vasospasm, and anecdotal reports of its clinical utility are numerous. However, in this report the authors conclude that its superiority to medical management for symptomatic cerebral vasospasm is questionable.


US Neurology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Kassi Kronfeld ◽  
Sherry Hsiang-Yi Chou ◽  
◽  

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) affects over 30,000 people annually in the US and is responsible for 27% of all stroke-related potential life-years lost before 65 years of age. Delayed cerebral vasospasm, defined as the narrowing of the cerebral arteries at the base of the brain, can occur several days after the initial SAH and cause significant additional morbidity and mortality. Currently, preventive and therapeutic options for delayed cerebral vasospasm are limited and may involve high risk. Oral nimodipine is the only therapeutic agent proven to modestly improve outcome following SAH in multicenter randomized clinical trials. Statins have pleiotropic effects targeting many known pathways in cerebral vasospasm pathogenesis and show promise as potential new therapeutic agents for delayed vasospasm in preliminary animal studies, while results from human data are mixed. In this article, we review the known pathogenic mechanisms of delayed cerebral vasospasm, pre-clinical animal studies on statin use and delayed cerebral vasospasm, and results from human studies to date.


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoya Matsuda ◽  
Masato Naraoka ◽  
Hiroki Ohkuma ◽  
Norihito Shimamura ◽  
Katsuhiro Ito ◽  
...  

Background: Several clinical studies have indicated the efficacy of cilostazol, a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3, in preventing cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). They were not double-blinded trial resulting in disunited results on assessment of end points among the studies. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed to assess the effectiveness of cilostazol on cerebral vasospasm. Methods: Patients with aneurysmal SAH admitted within 24 h after the ictus who met the following criteria were enrolled in this study: SAH on CT scan was diffuse thick, diffuse thin, or local thick, Hunt and Hess score was less than 4, administration of cilostazol or placebo could be started within 48 h of SAH. Patients were randomly allocated to placebo or cilostazol after repair of a ruptured saccular aneurysm by aneurysmal neck clipping or endovascular coiling, and the administration of cilostazol or placebo was continued up to 14 days after initiation of treatment. The primary end point was the occurrence of symptomatic vasospasm (sVS), and secondary end points were angiographic vasospasm (aVS) evaluated on digital subtraction angiography, vasospasm-related new cerebral infarction evaluated on CT scan or MRI, and clinical outcome at 3 months of SAH as assessed by Glasgow Outcome Scale, in which poor outcome was defined as severe disability, vegetative state, and death. All end points were evaluated with blinded assessment. Results: One hundred forty eight patients were randomly allocated to the cilostazol group (n = 74) or the control group (n = 74). The occurrence of sVS was significantly lower in the cilostazol group than in the control group (10.8 vs. 24.3%, p = 0.031), and multiple logistic analysis showed that cilostazol use was an independent factor reducing sVS (OR 0.293, 95% CI 0.099-0.568, p = 0.027). The incidence of aVS and vasospasm-related cerebral infarction were not significantly different between the groups. Poor outcome was significantly lower in the cilostazol group than in the control group (5.4 vs. 17.6%, p = 0.011), and multiple logistic analyses demonstrated that cilostazol use was an independent factor that reduced the incidence of poor outcome (OR 0.221, 95% CI 0.054-0.903, p = 0.035). Severe adverse events due to cilostazol administration did not occur during the study period. Conclusions: Cilostazol administration is effective in preventing sVS and improving outcomes without severe adverse events. A larger-scale study including more cases was necessary to confirm this efficacy of cilostazol.


Open Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 598-604
Author(s):  
Valentina Opancina ◽  
Snezana Lukic ◽  
Slobodan Jankovic ◽  
Radisa Vojinovic ◽  
Milan Mijailovic

AbstractIntroductionAneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage is a type of spontaneous hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused by a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Cerebral vasospasm (CVS) is the most grievous complication of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The aim of this study was to examine the risk factors that influence the onset of CVS that develops after endovascular coil embolization of a ruptured aneurysm.Materials and methodsThe study was designed as a cross-sectional study. The patients included in the study were 18 or more years of age, admitted within a period of 24 h of symptom onset, diagnosed and treated at a university medical center in Serbia during a 5-year period.ResultsOur study showed that the maximum recorded international normalized ratio (INR) values in patients who were not receiving anticoagulant therapy and the maximum recorded white blood cells (WBCs) were strongly associated with cerebrovascular spasm, increasing its chances 4.4 and 8.4 times with an increase of each integer of the INR value and 1,000 WBCs, respectively.ConclusionsSAH after the rupture of cerebral aneurysms creates an endocranial inflammatory state whose intensity is probably directly related to the occurrence of vasospasm and its adverse consequences.


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