Improvement of cerebral blood flow after balloon angioplasty and stenting for symptomatic middle cerebral artery stenosis.

Objective: Although reports of endovascular treatment for intracranial arterial stenosis have been increasing recently, their efficacy remains to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the changes in cerebral hemodynamics of severe middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis patients by performing CT perfusion (CTP) after endovascular treatment.

Methods: Subjects were those who underwent balloon angioplasty and stenting for symptomatic MCA M1 stenosis refractory to medical therapy at our hospital between 2008 and 2022. We included 36 patients (mean age 63.69 ± 15.24 years, 20 males) who underwent CTP before and within three weeks after treatment. The CTP parameters such as relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), and relative mean transit time (rMTT) were calculated as ipsilateral values divided by contralateral value.

Results: Endovascular treatment consisted of 26 balloon angioplasty and 10 stenting procedures performed at an average of 1 month from onset. CTP was performed at an average of 5.5 days postoperatively. The mean overall stenosis rate decreased from 79.0% to 30.3%. In the balloon angioplasty group, it decreased from 77.6% to 35.3%, and in the stent group, it decreased from 82.7% to 17.5%. After treatment, rCBF and rMTT measured by CTP improved significantly (both p < 0.001), whereas there was no significant change in rCBV. The improvement rates of rCBF and rMTT were mild higher in the stent group, but not significantly so.

Conclusion: Balloon angioplasty and stenting for symptomatic MCA improved cerebral hemodynamics, resulting in significantly increased rCBF and decreased rMTT.