Transcranial Ultrasound Via Sonolucent Cranioplasty After Minimally Invasive Intracerebral Hemorrhage Evacuation

Overview

Postoperative rebleeding is a major limitation of surgical evacuation for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). While computed tomography (CT) is the standard of care for postoperative hematoma cavity monitoring, CT requires significant physical and financial costs. Studies have demonstrated varying degrees of efficacy when using transcranial ultrasound to measure ICH volume. Recently, synthetic implants for cranioplasty have been shown to be safe and sonolucent. This study aims to evaluate the ability of transcranial ultrasound with sonolucent cranioplasty (TUSC) to detect and quantify bleeding in postoperative ICH patients.

Detailed description

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for over 2 million strokes annually. ICH is the most devastating subtype of stroke, with a 1-year mortality rate of up to 50% and a 6-month survivor disability rate of up to 88%. Large-scale multicenter trials including STICH, STICH II, and MISTIE III demonstrated that surgical evacuation did not appear to improve long term functional outcome. Smaller studies and sub-group analyses have suggested that some forms of minimally invasive ICH evacuation may benefit specific patients. Postoperative rebleeding after surgical evacuation of ICH occurs in 5-40% and remains a major limitation to the efficacy and widespread adoption of this treatment strategy. Therefore, rapid assessment, detection, and management of postoperative bleeding is critical to maximize functional recovery after surgical evacuation.

The standard of care for postoperative hematoma cavity monitoring is computed tomography (CT). However, repeat CTs to assess patients with ICH incur health and financial cost including time and personnel to bring the patient to scan, risk of dislodging lines or drains, radiation dosing, and financial cost as well as others. Studies have demonstrated varying degrees of efficacy when using transcranial ultrasound to measure ICH volume. Recently, synthetic implants for cranioplasty have been shown to be safe and sonolucent. This study aims to evaluate the ability of transcranial ultrasound with sonolucent cranioplasty (TUSC) to detect and quantify bleeding in postoperative ICH patients.

In this prospective study, postoperative ICH patients will undergo cranioplasty with a sonolucent polymethyl methacrylate implant and serial monitoring via TUSC. Whenever a CT is performed during business hours, TUSC will be performed within 2 hours by a neurointensivist trained in point-of-care transcranial ultrasound (TCUS). Imaging will be reviewed by two independent neuroimaging experts. Additional secondary outcomes will include occurrence of serious adverse events, detection of intraventricular hemorrhage, and cost of care when compared to CT.

This work has the potential to significantly improve clinical management of ICH. This study will provide the safety and feasibility data necessary to guide future clinical research. ICH detection and volumetry are critical to patient care and prognostication. This point-of-care testing enables neurosurgeons to serially monitor patients to ensure that they receive timely, appropriate care.

Interventions

• Device ClearFit implant
  The ClearFit implant is an FDA cleared implant in regular use in the United States. The ClearFit implant and other PMMA cranioplasty implants manufactured by Longeviti have been reported to be safe and effective as cranial implants that permit transcranial ultrasound to be performed. The PMMA cranioplasty implant (Longeviti Neuro Solutions, Hunt Valley, MD) is clear, sonolucent, and was recently shown to be safe and effective in transcranial ultrasonography for bypass patency assessment. The Cle
• Procedure transcranial ultrasonography through sonolucent cranioplasty
  The implantation of the ClearFit PMMA sonolucent implant permits TUSC to be performed at the bedside for patients in both the in-patient and outpatient settings. While the patient is an inpatient, the clinical or research teams will attempt to perform TUSC within 1 hour of neuroimaging if that neuroimaging is performed at a time when a trained ultrasound operator is present.

Primary outcome measures

• The presence of intracerebral hemorrhage [Time frame: at 6 months]

Secondary outcome measures (7)

• Serious Adverse Events related to ClearFit or TUSC [Time frame: at 6 months]
• Accuracy of TUSC to detect intraventricular hemorrhage [Time frame: at 6 months]
• TUSC/CT ratio for distance between lateral ventricle frontal horns [Time frame: at 6 months]
• TUSC/CT ratio for midline shift [Time frame: at 6 months]
• Accuracy of TUSC to detect hydrocephalus [Time frame: at 6 months]
• Cost of TUSC [Time frame: at 6 months]
• Reimbursement rates for TUSC [Time frame: at 6 months]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Presence of spontaneous supratentorial ICH ≥20 mL
• Age ≥18 years
• National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥6
• GCS score 5-15 at presentation
• Undergoing minimally invasive intracerebral hemorrhage evacuation with sonolucent cranioplasty or hemicraniectomy with sonolucent cranioplasty

Exclusion criteria

• Secondary cause for the ICH, such as an underlying vascular malformation (cavernous malformation, arteriovenous malformation, etc.), aneurysm, neoplasm, hemorrhagic transformation of an underlying ischemic infarct; or venous infarct
• History of osteomyelitis
• History of skull neoplasm
• History of comminuted skull fractures
• Infratentorial hemorrhage
• Midbrain extension/involvement
• Coagulopathy defined as INR > 1.4, elevated aPTT, or concurrent use of direct oral anticoagulants or low molecular weight heparin at ICH onset; known hereditary or acquired hemorrhagic diathesis; coagulation factor deficiency; platelet count < 100x103cells/mm3, or known platelet dysfunction
• Inability to obtain consent from patient or appropriate surrogate (for patients without capacity)
• Evidence of active infection indicated by fever ≥ 100.7F and/or open draining wound at the time of enrolment
• Any comorbid disease or condition expected to compromise survival or ability to complete follow-up assessments through 1 year
• Based on investigator's judgment, the patient does not have the necessary mental capacity to participate or is unwilling to comply with the protocol follow-up appointment schedule
• Active drug or alcohol abuse that, in the opinion of the site investigator, would interfere with adherence to study enrolments
• Pre-existing DNR/DNI status

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Diagnostic

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• Mount Sinai Health System — New York

Publications

• Niesen WD, Schlaeger A, Bardutzky J, Fuhrer H. Correct Outcome Prognostication via Sonographic Volumetry in Supratentorial Intracerebral Hemorrhage. Front Neurol. 2019 May 8;10:492. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00492. eCollection 2019. PMID 31133979
• Krishnamurthi RV, Feigin VL, Forouzanfar MH, Mensah GA, Connor M, Bennett DA, Moran AE, Sacco RL, Anderson LM, Truelsen T, O'Donnell M, Venketasubramanian N, Barker-Collo S, Lawes CM, Wang W, Shinohara Y, Witt E, Ezzati M, Naghavi M, Murray C; Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, Risk Factors Study 2010 (GBD 2010); GBD Stroke Experts Group. Global and regional burden of first-ever ischaemic and ha PMID 25104492
• Kellner CP, Song R, Pan J, Nistal DA, Scaggiante J, Chartrain AG, Rumsey J, Hom D, Dangayach N, Swarup R, Tuhrim S, Ghatan S, Bederson JB, Mocco J. Long-term functional outcome following minimally invasive endoscopic intracerebral hemorrhage evacuation. J Neurointerv Surg. 2020 May;12(5):489-494. doi: 10.1136/neurintsurg-2019-015528. Epub 2020 Jan 8. PMID 31915207
• Hanley DF, Thompson RE, Rosenblum M, Yenokyan G, Lane K, McBee N, Mayo SW, Bistran-Hall AJ, Gandhi D, Mould WA, Ullman N, Ali H, Carhuapoma JR, Kase CS, Lees KR, Dawson J, Wilson A, Betz JF, Sugar EA, Hao Y, Avadhani R, Caron JL, Harrigan MR, Carlson AP, Bulters D, LeDoux D, Huang J, Cobb C, Gupta G, Kitagawa R, Chicoine MR, Patel H, Dodd R, Camarata PJ, Wolfe S, Stadnik A, Money PL, Mitchell P, S PMID 30739747
• Morgenstern LB, Demchuk AM, Kim DH, Frankowski RF, Grotta JC. Rebleeding leads to poor outcome in ultra-early craniotomy for intracerebral hemorrhage. Neurology. 2001 May 22;56(10):1294-9. doi: 10.1212/wnl.56.10.1294. PMID 11376176
• Delcourt C, Huang Y, Arima H, Chalmers J, Davis SM, Heeley EL, Wang J, Parsons MW, Liu G, Anderson CS; INTERACT1 Investigators. Hematoma growth and outcomes in intracerebral hemorrhage: the INTERACT1 study. Neurology. 2012 Jul 24;79(4):314-9. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e318260cbba. Epub 2012 Jun 27. PMID 22744655
• Flores AR, Srinivasan VM, Seeley J, Huggins C, Kan P, Burkhardt JK. Safety, Feasibility, and Patient-Rated Outcome of Sonolucent Cranioplasty in Extracranial-Intracranial Bypass Surgery to Allow for Transcranioplasty Ultrasound Assessment. World Neurosurg. 2020 Dec;144:e277-e284. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.08.114. Epub 2020 Aug 20. PMID 32827747
• Kellner CP, Song R, Ali M, Nistal DA, Samarage M, Dangayach NS, Liang J, McNeill I, Zhang X, Bederson JB, Mocco J. Time to Evacuation and Functional Outcome After Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Intracerebral Hemorrhage Evacuation. Stroke. 2021 Aug;52(9):e536-e539. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.034392. Epub 2021 Jun 24. PMID 34424739

Identifiers

NCT: NCT05538286 · STUDY-21-01878

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗