Continuous intra-arterial infusion of nimodipine at the onset of resistant vasospasm in aneurysmal subarachnoidal haemorrhage. Technical report

Abstract

<title/>Cerebral vasospasm complicating the aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage is a well known medical entity. The delayed ischemic neurological deficits (DINDs) as a result of vasospasm, remain the main cause of morbidity among patients who manage to survive this severe disease pattern. When the traditional treatment options either medical or interventional, fail to reverse the vasospasm, continuous intra-arterial infusion of nimodipine through catheters direct in the spastic arteries, presents a promising treatment modality. We treated in our clinic four patients with severe aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and refractory vasospasms with continuous nimodipine infusion via catheters in both internal carotid arteries and discussed the efficacy of the method presenting an illustrative case and discussing the effect based on doppler examinations.