Use of radial artery grafts in extracranial-intracranial revascularization procedures.

Cerebral revascularization procedures have been used in the clinical management of actual or threatened cerebral ischemic states and unclippable cerebral aneurysms. An alternative to a low-flow bypass graft (for example, with the superficial temporal artery) is the use of high-flow grafts created using the saphenous vein (SV) or radial artery (RA). These high-flow grafts are particularly useful when otherwise adequate collateral flow is insufficient to enable sacrifice of the parent vessel without the risk of cerebral ischemia. In their clinical series of 13 patients who underwent high-flow bypass with an RA graft, the authors describe 8 women and 5 men whose ages ranged from 44 to 69 years (mean 57.84 +/- 9.05 years). Indications for RA graft bypass were unclippable aneurysms in 10 patients and occlusive cerebrovascular disease in 3 patients. The authors review the properties of the 2 most common conduits, the SV and RA grafts. They present the technique of high-flow extracranial-intracranial bypass produced using RA grafts in the management of occlusive atherosclerotic disease and complex intracranial aneurysms that are not otherwise amenable to either clip ligation or coil occlusion.