High Risk of New Episode of Symptomatic Vasospasm in Unaffected Arteries in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients Receiving Targeted Endovascular Treatment for Symptomatic Focal Vasospasm

Background There is controversy whether asymptomatic vasospasm in other arteries should be concurrently treated (global treatment) in patients receiving targeted endovascular treatment [percutaneous-transluminal-angioplasty (PTA) and/or intra-arterial (IA) vasodilators] for focal symptomatic vasospasm. Objective To determine the rates of occurrence of new symptomatic vasospasm in previously asymptomatic arterial distributions among patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who underwent targeted endovascular treatment for focal symptomatic vasospasm. Methods We identified all patients with SAH who had received targeted endovascular treatment during a 4-year period. We ascertained any new occurrence of symptomatic vasosopasm requiring endovascular treatment in previously unaffected (and untreated) arterial distributions within the same hospitalization. Blinded reviewers quantitatively graded angiographic vasospasm (