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Inflammation promotes progression of thrombi in intracranial thrombotic aneurysms

Neurosurgical Review volume 43, pages 1565–1573 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis, abdominal aorta aneurysms and dissections, and carotid artery plaques have focused on chronic inflammation. In this study, we report that inflammatory changes of thrombi contribute to the enlargement and growth of giant intracranial thrombotic aneurysms. Surgical and postmortem samples were collected from 12 cases of large or giant intracranial thrombotic aneurysms diagnosed via pathological investigations. Degeneration of the aneurysmal wall and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the thrombi were assessed. The number of blood cells and immunohistochemical stain-positive cells was enumerated, and the inflammation and neovascularization in the thrombi were assessed. In all cases, the appearance of inflammatory cells (CD68+ cells, CD206+ cells, lymphocytes, and neutrophils) was apparent in the thrombi. The number of CD34+ cells was moderately correlated with the number of CD68+ cells, and CD34+ cells significantly and strongly correlated with the number of CD206+ cells. Based on the number of neutrophils per CD68+ cells, we classified the cases into 2 groups: a macrophage inflammation-dominant group and a neutrophilic inflammation-dominant group. The neutrophilic inflammation-dominant group had significantly more cases with previous treatments and neurological symptoms due to mass effect than the macrophage inflammation-dominant group. Chronic inflammation due to macrophages in thrombi is a fundamental mechanism in the enlargement of an intracranial thrombotic aneurysm, and neutrophilic inflammation can accelerate this process. Microvascularization in thrombi is linked to inflammation and might promote thickening of the intima and repeated intimal microbleeds.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Hime Suzuki, Takeshi Mikami, Tomoaki Tamada, Ryo Ukai, Yukinori Akiyama, Akinori Yamamura & Nobuhiro Mikuni

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Kiyohiro Houkin

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  1. Hime Suzuki
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  2. Takeshi Mikami
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  3. Tomoaki Tamada
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Correspondence to Takeshi Mikami.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee (The ethics committee of Sapporo Medical University Hospital) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Suzuki, H., Mikami, T., Tamada, T. et al. Inflammation promotes progression of thrombi in intracranial thrombotic aneurysms. Neurosurg Rev 43, 1565–1573 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-019-01184-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-019-01184-3

Keywords

  • Thrombotic aneurysm
  • Inflammation
  • Cerebral aneurysm