Direct Brachial Approach for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion: Technical Note and Preliminary Clinical Experience

In mechanical endovascular thrombectomy (MET) for acute basilar artery occlusion (ABAO) in the elderly, navigating a guide catheter via the femoral artery may be difficult due to the approach route’s significant tortuosity. To resolve this problem, we have been performing a technique that uses a direct brachial approach (DiBA) with a large-bore aspiration catheter. We reported our preliminary clinical experience with this technique. MET for ABAO using the DiBA technique was performed on 4 consecutive patients between August 2017 and December 2018. In all patients, thrombolysis in cerebral infarction 2B or 3 recanalization was achieved, but the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days was ≥4. There were no technical difficulties or complications with this technique. The DiBA technique is an effective and feasible approach in MET for ABAO. Although excellent clinical outcomes could not be achieved, the angiographic outcomes were excellent with no technical complications. This approach can be an alternative to the femoral artery approach, particularly for tortuous arteries in the elderly.