Local and intracraneal complications derived from cerebral arteriography

Background

Although cerebral angiography is the reference technique for the diagnosis and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases, it is not without complications.

Objectives

To determine the incidence and risk factors of complications derived from therapeutic cerebral angiography (TCA), as well as to assess the risk factors associated with the appearance of local and intracranial complications.

Methodology

Retrospective cross-sectional study on TCAs carried out in 2018 on admission to the Stroke Unit of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. The study was approved by the centre’s ethics committee. Demographic, clinical, analytical, and procedure-derived variables were collected. All patients older than 18 years undergoing TCA were included. Patients undergoing diagnostic cerebral arteriography and/or with a hospital stay less than 24 h were excluded. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for the comparison of quantitative variables and Pearson’s Chi-squared test for the qualitative variables.

Results

Complications were frequent, occurring in almost half of the sample (44%). A longer duration of arteriography was associated with an increase in local complications (p = .005). Intracranial complications occurred in 33% of the patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy and were associated with older age (p = .012), stent use (associated or not with aspiration) (p = .003), and complete recanalization (p = .02), as well as having a worse functional status at discharge (p = .006).

Conclusions

Complications derived from ACT are frequent. Their importance and incidence must be known to detect those subjects at higher risk for developing them due to their functional implications and increased hospital stay.