Objective: To evaluate the relationship between different angiographic patterns of middle cerebral artery M1 segment stenosis and related territorial stroke in patients receiving aggressive medical treatment without stenting.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our patient registry database to identify ICAS patients diagnosed by digital subtraction angiography between January 2017 and December 2020 and identified 3 different angiographic patterns (normal, shift, and dilation) in 124 patients with M1 stenosis. The association between these patterns and recurrent ischemic stroke in the M1 territory was analyzed.
Results: The rates of recurrent M1 territorial stroke and transient ischemic attack in the normal group, shift group, dilation group and shift-dilation group were 34.5%, 35.0%, 78.3%, and 44.4% respectively. In patients with the shift pattern, the rate of recurrent stroke is significantly higher at a deflection angle ≥9.32° than at a deflection angle <9.32°(P < 0.05). In patients with dilation pattern, the rate of recurrent stroke is significantly higher than patients with non-dilation pattern (72.3% vs. 36.8%, P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Angiographic patterns of M1 stenosis may predict recurrent territorial strokes, thus providing a surrogate marker to identify high-risk patients for potential endovascular treatment.
Keywords: Angiographic patterns; Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis; Middle cerebral artery; Stroke; TIA.
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