Feasibility and short-term outcome of elective intracranial stenting in patients with hemodynamic stroke or medical failure: A single-center, retrospective analysis (2011-2024)

Highlights • Elective PTAS was retrospectively analyzed in 36 selected patients with ICAS. • The predefined angiographic endpoint was achieved in all patients. • One periprocedural infarction occurred; one contralateral stroke within 30 days was considered unlikely to be PTAS-related. • Median mRS was 3 before PTAS, 2 at discharge, and 1 at follow-up in 23/36 patients. • Larger controlled studies with systematic long-term follow-up are required. Abstract: Cell-cell communication (CCC) is involved in regulating cellular behavior in tissues. Spatial transcriptomics adds local context to gene expression, enabling more biologically grounded CCC inference than single-cell RNA-seq alone. Rapid method development has yielded diverse CCC methods, each addressing distinct biological questions through varied analytical frameworks. We review 33 recent methods and organize them into three categories: inference of communication networks at cell-type or single-cell resolution, modeling of microenvironment-driven transcriptional variability and regulatory modules, and estimation of spatially informed signaling gene co-associations and higher-order interaction structures. We offer a structured guide for method selection aligned with researchers' analytical goals, highlighting strengths, limitations, and key technical features to support the informed application of CCC inference methods in spatial transcriptomic research.