The Safety and Feasibility of Mechanical Thrombectomy for Mild Acute Ischemic Stroke With Large Vessel Occlusion

Neurosurgery ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 802-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabor Toth ◽  
Santiago Ortega-Gutierrez ◽  
Jenny P Tsai ◽  
Russell Cerejo ◽  
Sami Al Kasab ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Prospective evidence to support mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for mild ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion (LVO) is lacking. There is uncertainty about using an invasive procedure in patients with mild symptoms. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and feasibility of MT in patients with mild symptoms and LVO. METHODS Our single-arm prospective pilot study recruited patients with LVO and initial National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) <6, who underwent standard MT. Primary safety endpoints were symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH), and/or worsening NIHSS by ≥4 points. Secondary endpoints included angiographic recanalization, NIHSS change, final infarct volume, and modified Rankin score (mRS). RESULTS We enrolled 20 patients (mean age 65.6 ± 12.3 yr; 45% females). Thrombolysis in Cerebral Ischemia 2B/3 thrombectomy was achieved in 95%. No patients suffered sICH. One patient (5%) had neurologic worsening within 24 h because of underlying intracranial stenosis. No other complications or safety concerns were identified. Median NIHSS was significantly better at discharge (0.5, P = .007) and at last follow-up (0, P < .001) than before treatment (3). Mean post vs preintervention infarct volumes were small without significant difference (1.2 ml, P = .434). Most patients (85%) were discharged directly home. Excellent clinical outcome (mRS 0-1) at last follow-up was seen in 95% of patients. CONCLUSION This is one of the first specifically designed prospective studies showing that MT is safe and feasible in patients with low NIHSS and LVO. Chronic underlying vasculopathy may be a challenging dilemma. We observed excellent clinical and radiographic outcomes, but randomized controlled trials are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of MT in this unique cohort.

Stroke ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cerejo Russell ◽  
Esteban Cheng-Ching ◽  
M Shazam Hussain ◽  
Ken Uchino ◽  
Ferdinand Hui ◽  
...  

Introduction: Large vessel occlusion (LVO) is thought to be an independent predictor of clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Despite various available treatment modalities, optimal therapy for LVO patients presenting with mild symptoms is not known. These patients remain a significant challenge in clinical practice. Methods: Retrospective chart review of AIS patients admitted between January 2010 and August 2012 at a large tertiary care center. Inclusion criteria: symptom onset within 8 hours, LVO as cause of symptoms, initial NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) < 8. Patients with bilateral lesions, distal small vessel involvement or single vertebral artery disease were excluded. Tandem lesions were included. Patient demographics, administered therapies and short term clinical outcomes were analyzed. Results: A total of 51 patients (56.9% male; mean age 66.4±14.5) fulfilled our strict criteria for inclusion. MCA involvement was seen in 31 (60.8%), ICA 13 (25.5%), basilar 3 (5.9%) and tandem ICA-MCA in 4 (7.8%). A total of 15 (29.4%) received acute therapy with IV t-PA and/or endovascular intervention (TX); both were used only in 6 (11.8%). Follow-up at 30 days was available in 64.7% of patients: 58.3% with TX and 80% without. Mean NIHSS remained relatively stable showing 4.3±2.1 on admission, and 2.6±3.4 on discharge (NS), with 75.8% of patients having same or better NIHSS on follow-up. There was a significant difference in functional outcome: mRS≤2 was present in 98% of patients on admission, but only in 63.6% at follow-up. If extended the mRS range, 90.9% of patients had mRS≤3 on follow-up. Only 33.3% at follow-up had same or better mRS than on admission. Results were consistent, irrespective of receiving acute therapy. Conclusion: Acute LVO with mild presenting symptoms remains a difficult therapeutic challenge. Our data shows that despite stable gross clinical examination (by NIHSS) on follow-up, a large proportion of patients experience mild to moderately worse functional outcome, irrespective of receiving acute therapy. Our study limitations include retrospective analysis and suboptimal patient follow-up, especially in untreated patient population. We believe that a prospective, larger cohort is warranted to find optimal treatment approach.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darko Quispe-Orozco ◽  
Cynthia Zevallos ◽  
Mudassir Farooqui ◽  
Andres Dajles ◽  
Cindy Khanh Nguyen ◽  
...  

Introduction: Infarct growth is affected by the collateral blood supply and ischemic tolerance and thus unlikely linear. This study aimed to better characterize infarct growth rates (IGR) after large-vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke. Methods: We retrospectively identified patients with anterior LVO stroke who underwent mechanical thrombectomy (MT) at two comprehensive stroke centers. Core infarct volumes at presentation (CBF<30%) were estimated using RAPID software. Final infarct volume (FIV) was measured on post-MT MRI. We estimated IGR during two intervals: IGR 1 defined as CBF<30% (ml) / Time from onset to CTP (hours); and IGR 2 as [FIV - CBF<30% (ml)] / Time from CTP to reperfusion (hours). To calculate IGR 2, we only analyzed patients with successful MT (mTICI ≥ 2b) assuming no significant infarct growth after reperfusion. Functional outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 90 days. We performed the Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for each interval to best classify patients into slow and fast progressors. Results: Of the 361 patients (age 68 ± 15, 55% female, NIHSS 14 ± 6) included in the analysis, 282 (78.1%) had successful reperfusion, and 150 (41.6%) achieved a good outcome (mRS ≤2). IGR showed an exponential growth pattern (Figure 1). There was no significant difference in the median IGR 1 between the poor and good outcome groups (2.3 vs. 1 ml, p=0.061). The median IGR 2 in patients with poor outcome was significantly higher when compared to those in the good outcome group (IGR 14.1ml/h vs. 4.62ml/h, p<0.0001). IGR 2 ≥ 12.2ml/h had a sensitivity of 0.56 and a specificity of 0.77 (AUC 0.67) for predicting poor outcome. Conclusions: We identified an exponential infarct growth pattern after LVO stroke that differs in relation to outcome. High IGR in the interval from CTP to reperfusion is associated with worse outcomes, emphasizing the importance of future research into therapeutic approaches to slow down infarct progression.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadi Yaghi ◽  
Eytan Raz ◽  
Seena Dehkharghani ◽  
Howard Riina ◽  
Ryan McTaggart ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: In patients with acute large vessel occlusion, the natural history of penumbral tissue based on perfusion time-to-maximum (T max ) delay is not well established in relation to late-window endovascular thrombectomy. In this study, we sought to evaluate penumbra consumption rates for T max delays in patients with large vessel occlusion evaluated between 6 and 16 hours from last known normal. Methods: This is a post hoc analysis of the DEFUSE 3 trial (The Endovascular Therapy Following Imaging Evaluation for Ischemic Stroke), which included patients with an acute ischemic stroke due to anterior circulation occlusion within 6 to 16 hours of last known normal. The primary outcome is percentage penumbra consumption, defined as (24-hour magnetic resonance imaging infarct volume–baseline core infarct volume)/(T max 6 or 10 s volume–baseline core volume). We stratified the cohort into 4 categories based on treatment modality and Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI score; untreated, TICI 0-2a, TICI 2b, and TICI3) and calculated penumbral consumption rates in each category. Results: We included 141 patients, among whom 68 were untreated. In the untreated versus TICI 3 patients, a median (interquartile range) of 53.7% (21.2%–87.7%) versus 5.3% (1.1%–14.6%) of penumbral tissue was consumed based on T max >6 s ( P <0.001). In the same comparison for T max >10 s, we saw a difference of 165.4% (interquartile range, 56.1%–479.8%) versus 25.7% (interquartile range, 3.2%–72.1%; P <0.001). Significant differences were not demonstrated between untreated and TICI 0-2a patients for penumbral consumption based on T max >6 s ( P =0.52) or T max >10 s ( P =0.92). Conclusions: Among extended window endovascular thrombectomy patients, T max >10-s mismatch volume may comprise large volumes of salvageable tissue, whereas nearly half the T max >6-s mismatch volume may remain viable in untreated patients at 24 hours.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilko L. Maier ◽  
Katarina Schramm ◽  
Mathias Bähr ◽  
Daniel Behme ◽  
Marios-Nikos Psychogios ◽  
...  

Background: Patients with large vessel occlusion stroke (LVOS) eligible for mechanical thrombectomy (MT) are at risk for stroke- and non-stroke-related complications resulting in the need for tracheostomy (TS). Risk factors for TS have not yet been systematically investigated in this subgroup of stroke patients.Methods: Prospectively derived data from patients with LVOS and MT being treated in a large, academic neurological ICU (neuro-ICU) between 2014 and 2019 were analyzed in this single-center study. Predictive value of peri- and post-interventional factors, stroke imaging, and pre-stroke medical history were investigated for their potential to predict tracheostomy during ICU stay using logistic regression models.Results: From 635 LVOS-patients treated with MT, 40 (6.3%) underwent tracheostomy during their neuro-ICU stay. Patients receiving tracheostomy were younger [71 (62–75) vs. 77 (66–83), p &lt; 0.001], had a higher National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at baseline [18 (15–20) vs. 15 (10–19), p = 0.009] as well as higher rates of hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) [39 (97.5%) vs. 224 (37.6%), p &lt; 0.001], failed extubation [15 (37.5%) vs. 19 (3.2%), p &lt; 0.001], sepsis [11 (27.5%) vs. 16 (2.7%), p &lt; 0.001], symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage [5 (12.5%) vs. 22 (3.9%), p = 0.026] and decompressive hemicraniectomy (DH) [19 (51.4%) vs. 21 (3.8%), p &lt; 0.001]. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, HAP (OR 21.26 (CI 2.76–163.56), p = 0.003], Sepsis [OR 5.39 (1.71–16.91), p = 0.004], failed extubation [OR 8.41 (3.09–22.93), p &lt; 0.001] and DH [OR 9.94 (3.92–25.21), p &lt; 0.001] remained as strongest predictors for TS. Patients with longer periods from admission to TS had longer ICU length of stay (r = 0.384, p = 0.03). There was no association between the time from admission to TS and clinical outcome (NIHSS at discharge: r = 0.125, p = 0.461; mRS at 90 days: r = −0.179, p = 0.403).Conclusions: Patients with LVOS undergoing MT are at high risk to require TS if extubation after the intervention fails, DH is needed, and severe infectious complications occur in the acute phase after ischemic stroke. These factors are likely to be useful for the indication and timing of TS to reduce overall sedation and shorten ICU length of stay.


Stroke ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 2842-2850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter H. Hinsenveld ◽  
Inger R. de Ridder ◽  
Robert J. van Oostenbrugge ◽  
Jan A. Vos ◽  
Adrien E. Groot ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose— Endovascular treatment (EVT) of patients with acute ischemic stroke because of large vessel occlusion involves complicated logistics, which may cause a delay in treatment initiation during off-hours. This might lead to a worse functional outcome. We compared workflow intervals between endovascular treatment–treated patients presenting during off- and on-hours. Methods— We retrospectively analyzed data from the MR CLEAN Registry, a prospective, multicenter, observational study in the Netherlands and included patients with an anterior circulation large vessel occlusion who presented between March 2014 and June 2016. Off-hours were defined as presentation on Monday to Friday between 17:00 and 08:00 hours, weekends (Friday 17:00 to Monday 8:00) and national holidays. Primary end point was first door to groin time. Secondary end points were functional outcome at 90 days (modified Rankin Scale) and workflow time intervals. We stratified for transfer status, adjusted for prognostic factors, and used linear and ordinal regression models. Results— We included 1488 patients of which 936 (62.9%) presented during off-hours. Median first door to groin time was 140 minutes (95% CI, 110–182) during off-hours and 121 minutes (95% CI, 85–157) during on-hours. Adjusted first door to groin time was 14.6 minutes (95% CI, 9.3–20.0) longer during off-hours. Door to needle times for intravenous therapy were slightly longer (3.5 minutes, 95% CI, 0.7–6.3) during off-hours. Groin puncture to reperfusion times did not differ between groups. For transferred patients, the delay within the intervention center was 5.0 minutes (95% CI, 0.5–9.6) longer. There was no significant difference in functional outcome between patients presenting during off- and on-hours (adjusted odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74–1.14). Reperfusion rates and complication rates were similar. Conclusions— Presentation during off-hours is associated with a slight delay in start of endovascular treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke. This treatment delay did not translate into worse functional outcome or increased complication rates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazutaka Uchida ◽  
Shinichi Yoshimura ◽  
Hirotoshi Imamura ◽  
Nobuyuki Ohara ◽  
Nobuyuki Sakai ◽  
...  

Background Statins have been associated with reduced recurrence and better functional outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, the effect of statins in patients with acute large vessel occlusion (LVO) is not well scrutinized. Methods and Results RESCUE (Recovery by Endovascular Salvage for Cerebral Ultra‐Acute Embolism)‐Japan Registry 2, a physician‐initiated registry, enrolled 2420 consecutive patients with acute LVO who were admitted to 46 centers across Japan within 24 hours of onset. We compared patients with and without statin use after acute LVO onset (statin group and nonstatin group, respectively) in terms of the modified Rankin scale at 90 days. We estimated that the odds ratios for the primary outcome was modified Rankin scale and we estimated the odds ratios for a 1‐scale lower modified Rankin scale adjusting for confounders. After excluding 12 patients without LVO and 9 patients without follow‐up, the mean age of 2399 patients was 75.9 years; men accounted for 55% of patients. Statins were administered to 447 (19%) patients after acute LVO onset. Patients in the statin group had more atherothrombotic cerebral infarctions (34.2% versus 12.1%, P <0.0001), younger age (73.4 years versus 76.5 years, P <0.0001), and lower median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale on admission (14 versus 17, P <0.0001) than the nonstatin group. The adjusted common OR of the statin group for lower modified Rankin scale was 1.29 (95% CI, 1.04–1.37; P =0.02). The mortality at 90 days was lower in the statin group (4.7%) than the nonstatin group (12.5%; P <0.0001). The adjusted OR of the statin group relative to the nonstatin group for mortality was 0.36 (95% CI, 0.21–0.62; P =0.02). Conclusions Statin administration after acute LVO onset is significantly associated with better functional outcome and mortality at 90 days.


Stroke ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 880-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Kaesmacher ◽  
Panagiotis Chaloulos-Iakovidis ◽  
Leonidas Panos ◽  
Pasquale Mordasini ◽  
Patrik Michel ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose— If anterior circulation large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke patients presenting with ASPECTS 0–5 (Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score) should be treated with mechanical thrombectomy remains unclear. Purpose of this study was to report on the outcome of patients with ASPECTS 0–5 treated with mechanical thrombectomy and to provide data regarding the effect of successful reperfusion on clinical outcomes and safety measures in these patients. Methods— Multicenter, pooled analysis of 7 institutional prospective registries: Bernese-European Registry for Ischemic Stroke Patients Treated Outside Current Guidelines With Neurothrombectomy Devices Using the SOLITAIRE FR With the Intention for Thrombectomy (Clinical Trial Registration—URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT03496064). Primary outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale 0–3 at day 90 (favorable outcome). Secondary outcomes included rates of day 90 modified Rankin Scale 0–2 (functional independence), day 90 mortality and occurrence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association of successful reperfusion with clinical outcomes. Outputs are displayed as adjusted Odds Ratios (aOR) and 95% CI. Results— Two hundred thirty-seven of 2046 patients included in this registry presented with anterior circulation large vessel occlusion and ASPECTS 0–5. In this subgroup, the overall rates of favorable outcome and mortality at day 90 were 40.1% and 40.9%. Achieving successful reperfusion was independently associated with favorable outcome (aOR, 5.534; 95% CI, 2.363–12.961), functional independence (aOR, 5.583; 95% CI, 1.964–15.873), reduced mortality (aOR, 0.180; 95% CI, 0.083–0.390), and lower rates of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (aOR, 0.235; 95% CI, 0.062–0.887). The mortality-reducing effect remained in patients with ASPECTS 0–4 (aOR, 0.167; 95% CI, 0.056–0.499). Sensitivity analyses did not change the primary results. Conclusions— In patients presenting with ASPECTS 0–5, who were treated with mechanical thrombectomy, successful reperfusion was beneficial without increasing the risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Although the results do not allow for general treatment recommendations, formal testing of mechanical thrombectomy versus best medical treatment in these patients in a randomized controlled trial is warranted.


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