A Case of Acute Embolic Occlusion of the Common Carotid Artery in Which a Giant Thrombus Was Retrieved Using the Parallel Stent Retriever Technique

OBJECTIVE: We report a case of embolic occlusion of the common carotid artery (CCA) in which a giant thrombus was retrieved using the parallel stent retriever technique. CASE PRESENTATION: An 84-year-old woman without anticoagulant therapy despite a history of cardioembolic stroke presented to our hospital because of left hemiparesis after developing sudden vision loss in her right eye. Emergency angiography revealed a giant thrombus in the right CCA. After arresting flow in the CCA using a balloon-guided catheter (BGC), we deployed two stent retrievers in parallel from the internal carotid artery to the CCA, and slowly retrieved them simultaneously under manual aspiration through the BGC. As a result, complete recanalization was achieved. CONCLUSION: Thrombi causing acute embolic occlusion of the CCA are often too large to be completely retrieved using conventional thrombectomy techniques. The parallel stent retriever technique may be effective in such cases.