Protocols for Endovascular Stroke Treatment Diminish the Weekend Effect Through Improvements in Off-Hours Care

Introduction: The weekend effect is a well-recognized phenomenon in which patient outcomes worsen for acute strokes presenting outside routine business hours. This is attributed to non-uniform availability of services throughout the week and evenings and, though described for intravenous thrombolysis candidates, is poorly understood for endovascular stroke care. We evaluated the impact of institutional protocols on the weekend effect, and the speed and outcome of endovascular therapy as a function of time of presentation.Method: This study assesses a prospective observational cohort of 129 consecutive patients. Patients were grouped based on the time of presentation during regular work hours (Monday through Friday, 07:00–19:00 h) vs. off-hours (overnight 19:00–07:00 h and weekends) and assessed for treatment latency and outcome.Results: Treatment latencies did not depend on the time of presentation. The door to imaging interval was comparable during regular and off-hours (median time 21 vs. 19 min, respectively, p < 0.50). Imaging to groin puncture was comparable (71 vs. 71 min, p < 1.0), as were angiographic and functional outcomes. Additionally, treatment intervals decreased with increased protocol experience; door-to-puncture interval significantly decreased from the first to the fourth quarters of the study period (115 vs. 94 min, respectively, p < 0.006), with the effect primarily seen during off-hours with a 28% reduction in median door-to-puncture times.Conclusions: Institutional protocols help diminish the weekend effect in endovascular stroke treatment. This is driven largely by improvement in off-hours performance, with protocol adherence leading to further decreases in treatment intervals over time

Bridging thrombolysis in atrial fibrillation stroke is associated with increased hemorrhagic complications without improved outcomes

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) associated ischemic stroke is associated with worse functional outcomes, less effective recanalization, and increased rates of hemorrhagic complications after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). Conversely, AF is not associated with hemorrhagic complications or functional outcomes in patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT). This differential effect of MT and IVT in AF associated stroke raises the question of whether bridging thrombolysis increases hemorrhagic complications in AF patients undergoing MT. METHODS: This international cohort study of 22 comprehensive stroke centers analyzed patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) undergoing MT between June 1, 2015 and December 31, 2020. Patients were divided into four groups based on comorbid AF and IVT exposure. Baseline patient characteristics, complications, and outcomes were reported and compared. RESULTS: 6461 patients underwent MT for LVO. 2311 (35.8%) patients had comorbid AF. In non-AF patients, bridging therapy improved the odds of good 90 day functional outcomes (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.29, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.60, p=0.025) and did not increase hemorrhagic complications. In AF patients, bridging therapy led to significant increases in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and parenchymal hematoma type 2 (aOR 1.66, 1.07 to 2.57, p=0.024) without any benefit in 90 day functional outcomes. Similar findings were noted in a separate propensity score analysis. CONCLUSION: In this large thrombectomy registry, AF patients exposed to IVT before MT had increased hemorrhagic complications without improved functional outcomes, in contrast with non-AF patients. Prospective trials are warranted to assess whether AF patients represent a subgroup of LVO patients who may benefit from a direct to thrombectomy approach at thrombectomy capable centers

Trends in Reperfusion Therapy for In-Hospital Ischemic Stroke in the Endovascular Therapy Era.

Importance:A significant proportion of acute ischemic strokes occur while patients are hospitalized. Limited contemporary data exist on the utilization rates of intravenous thrombolysis or endovascular therapy for in-hospital stroke. Objective:To use a national registry to examine temporal trends in the use of intravenous and endovascular reperfusion therapies for treatment of in-hospital stroke. Design, Setting, and Participants:This retrospective cohort study analyzed data from 267 956 patients who underwent reperfusion therapy for stroke with in-hospital or out-of-hospital onset reported in the Get With the Guidelines-Stroke national registry from January 2008 to September 2018. Exposures:In-hospital onset vs out-of-hospital onset of stroke symptoms. Main Outcomes and Measures:Temporal trends in the use of reperfusion therapy, process measures of quality, and the association between functional outcomes and key patient characteristics, comorbidities, and treatments. Results:Of 67 493 patients with in-hospital stroke onset, this study observed increased rates of vascular risk factors (standardized mean difference >10%) but no significant differences in age or sex in patients undergoing intravenous thrombolysis only (mean [interquartile range {IQR}] age, 72 [80-62] y; 53.2% female) or those undergoing endovascular therapy (mean [IQR] age, 69 [59-79] y; 49.8% female). Of these patients, 10 481 (15.5%) received intravenous thrombolysis and 2494 (3.7%) underwent endovascular therapy. Compared with 2008, in 2018 the proportion of in-hospital stroke among all stroke hospital discharges was higher (3.5% vs 2.7%; P < .001), as was use of intravenous thrombolysis (19.1% vs 9.1%; P < .001) and endovascular therapy (6.4% vs 2.5%; P < .001) in patients with in-hospital stroke, with a significant increase in endovascular therapy in mid-2015 (P < .001). Compared with patients who received intravenous thrombolysis for out-of-hospital stroke onset, those with in-hospital onset were associated with longer median (IQR) times from stroke recognition to cranial imaging (33 [18-60] vs 16 [9-26] minutes; P < .001) and to thrombolysis bolus (81 [52-125] vs 60 [45-84] minutes; P < .001). In adjusted analyses, patients with in-hospital stroke onset who were treated with intravenous thrombolysis were less likely to ambulate independently at discharge (adjusted odds ratio, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.74-0.82; P < .001) and were more likely to die or to be discharged to hospice (adjusted odds ratio, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.29-1.50; P < .001) than patients with out-of-hospital onset who also received intravenous thrombolysis treatment. Comparisons among patients treated with endovascular therapy yielded similar findings. Conclusions and Relevance:In this cohort study, in-hospital stroke onset was increasingly reported and treated with reperfusion therapy. Compared with out-of-hospital stroke onset, in-hospital onset was associated with longer delays to reperfusion and worse functional outcomes, highlighting opportunities to further care for patients with in-hospital stroke onset

Repeat thrombectomy after large vessel re-occlusion: a propensity score matched analysis of technical and clinical outcomes

Background Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) remains the standard of care for acute large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke. However, the safety and efficacy of repeat thrombectomy (rEVT) in recurrent LVO remains unclear. This study uses a large real-world patient cohort to study technical and clinical outcomes after rEVT. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study including patients who underwent thrombectomy between January 2013 and December 2022. Data were included from 21 comprehensive stroke centers globally through the Stroke Thrombectomy and Aneurysm Registry (STAR). Patients undergoing single EVT or rEVT within 30 days of LVO stroke were included in the study. Propensity score matching was used to compare patients undergoing single EVT versus rEVT. Results Out of a total of 7387 patients who underwent thrombectomy for LVO stroke, 90 (1.2%) patients underwent rEVT for the same vascular territory within 30 days. The median (IQR) time to re-occlusion was 2 (1–7) days. Compared with a matched cohort of patients undergoing a single EVT procedure, patients undergoing rEVT had a comparable rate of good functional outcome and mortality rate, but a higher rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). There was a significant reduction in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of patients who underwent rEVT at discharge compared with baseline (−4.8±11.4; P=0.006). The rate of successful recanalization was similar in the single thrombectomy and rEVT groups (78% vs 80%, P=0.171) and between index and rEVT performed on the same patient (79% vs 80%; P=0.593). Conclusion Short-interval rEVT is associated with an improvement in the NIHSS score following large vessel re-occlusion. Compared with single thrombectomy, there was a higher rate of sICH with rEVT, but without a significant impact on rates of functional independence or mortality

Microvascular cerebral blood flow response to intrathecal nicardipine is associated with delayed cerebral ischemia

One of the common complications of non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). Intrathecal (IT) administration of nicardipine, a calcium channel blocker (CCB), upon detection of large-artery cerebral vasospasm holds promise as a treatment that reduces the incidence of DCI. In this observational study, we prospectively employed a non-invasive optical modality called diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) to quantify the acute microvascular cerebral blood flow (CBF) response to IT nicardipine (up to 90 min) in 20 patients with medium-high grade non-traumatic SAH. On average, CBF increased significantly with time post-administration. However, the CBF response was heterogeneous across subjects. A latent class mixture model was able to classify 19 out of 20 patients into two distinct classes of CBF response: patients in Class 1 (n = 6) showed no significant change in CBF, while patients in Class 2 (n = 13) showed a pronounced increase in CBF in response to nicardipine. The incidence of DCI was 5 out of 6 in Class 1 and 1 out of 13 in Class 2 (p \u3c 0.001). These results suggest that the acute (\u3c90 min) DCS-measured CBF response to IT nicardipine is associated with intermediate-term (up to 3 weeks) development of DCI

Abstract P479: A Tale of Two Clots: A Multicenter Study on Multiple Territory Thrombectomy

Introduction: The benefit of thrombectomy for large vessel occlusion (LVO) is well proven. There is minimal data on concurrent thrombectomy for multi-territory occlusions. Methods: We reviewed the STAR registry from 2015-8 for patients treated with either right and left sided thrombectomy or anterior and posterior circulation thrombectomy at 15 comprehensive stroke centers. Results: There were 4966 patients in the study period who had completed outcome data and LVO thrombectomy. 38 (0.8%) underwent endovascular thrombectomy for multi-territory occlusions. 26% had bilateral occlusions and 74% had anterior and posterior circulation occlusions. Among the 38, 50% were female, 49% were white, and 91% had a prestroke mRS6 and 55% received iv t-pa. 83% of patients had successful recanalization (TICI 2B/3) for both territories. The overall complication rate was 15%. 5% of patients had sICH or PH2. 26% of patients had a 90day mRS<2. When controlling for admission NIHSS, baseline mRS, age, comorbidities, and ASPECT in logistic regression analysis, multiple territory compared to single territory did not predict increased risk of sICH (p=0.73, 95%CI: 0.2-3.3), rate of TICI2B/3 (OR for TICI2B+: 0.93, p=0.88, CI: 0.38 - 2.3), or worse outcome (OR for good outcome: 0.6, p=.212, CI: 0.3-1.3). On linear regression analysis for attempts and procedure time, multiple territory thrombectomy required significantly higher number of attempts (Coefficient +1.8, p=0.001) without a significantly longer procedure time (Coefficient = +10, p=0.244). Conclusion: With similar selection to single territory LVOs, good outcome can be achieved in multi-territory infarction with reasonable procedure time and no additional risk of hemorrhage or poor outcome

Abstract P20: Bridging Therapy Increases Hemorrhagic Complications Without Improving Functional Outcomes in Atrial Fibrillation Associated Stroke

* on behalf of the Stroke Thrombectomy and Aneurysm Registry (STAR) Collaborators Introduction: Intravenous thrombolysis complications are enriched in AF associated stroke, as these patients have worse functional outcomes, less effective recanalization, and increased rates of hemorrhagic complications. These data suggest that AF patients may be at particularly high risk for complications of bridging therapy for large vessel occlusions treated with mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Here we determine whether clinical outcomes differ in AF associated stroke treated with MT and bridging therapy. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of the Stroke and Aneurysm Registry (STAR) from January 2015 to December 2018 and identified 4,169 patients who underwent MT for an anterior circulation stroke, 1,517 (36.4 %) of which had comorbid AF. Prospectively defined baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes were compared. Results: Hemorrhagic complications after MT were similar in patients with or without AF. In patients without AF, bridging therapy improved 90-day outcomes (aOR 1.32, 1.02-1.74, p<0.05) without increasing hemorrhagic complications. In patients with AF, bridging therapy independently predicted hemorrhagic complications in AF patients (aOR 2.08, 1.06-4.06, p<0.033) without improving functional outcomes. Conclusions: Bridging therapy in AF patients undergoing thrombectomy independently increased the odds of intracranial hemorrhage and did not improve functional outcomes. AF patients may represent a high-risk subgroup for thrombolytic complications. Randomized trials are warranted to determine whether patients with AF associated stroke may benefit by deferring bridging therapy at thrombectomy-capable centers