Introduction
: The utility of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) prior to mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke is controversial. Some data suggest IVT could increase MT difficulty. Within our hub‐and‐spoke telestroke network, we examined how spoke‐administered IVT affects hub MT procedure time and number of passes.
Methods
: Patients presenting to 25 spoke hospitals who were transferred to the hub and underwent MT from 2018 to 2020 were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Procedure time, fluoroscopy time, and number of passes were obtained from operative reports. Statistics were performed using permutation resampling and linear regression in R.
Results
: Of 113 patients, 50 received IVT. Baseline characteristics and NIHSS were similar between groups, however the last known well‐to‐groin puncture time was shorter among IVT patients (4.4 ±1.8 hrs vs. 10.5 ±5.7 hrs, p<0.001). In patients that received IVT, mean MT procedure time was decreased by 19 minutes (50 ±29 mins vs. 69 ±47, p = 0.01) and mean fluoroscopy time was decreased by 12 minutes (21 ±16 mins vs. 33 ±31 mins, p = 0.02). Linear regression modeling showed IVT was associated with improved procedure time and fluoroscopy time even when controlling for last known well (p = 0.02 and p = 0.02, respectively). For patients that achieved TICI2b‐3 reperfusion, there was a trend for reduced groin puncture‐to‐reperfusion time by 13 minutes in IVT patients (30 ±22 mins vs. 43 ±49 mins, p = 0.07). IVT‐treated patients required less MT passes (median 1 pass [IQR 1.0, 1.80] vs. 2 passes [1.0, 2.3], p<0.001), and the proportion of IVT patients requiring 2 or few passes was significantly higher (91.6% vs 59.3%, p = 0.01). Moreover, IVT was associated with decreased number of passes even when controlling for last known well (p = 0.01). For patients that received IVT, there was a trend for improved TICI2b‐3 reperfusion at the end of MT (93.9% vs. 83.8%, p = 0.06). IVT did not result in increased intracranial hemorrhage (IVT = 10% vs. 18%, p = 0.17).
Conclusions
: Within our network, hub MT following spoke‐administered IVT was faster and required fewer passes, even when controlling for last known well. Furthermore, IVT did not result in worsened reperfusion following MT. This retrospective analysis suggests IVT does not impair MT, but instead may enhance it.