BackgroundDespite the recent acceptance of thrombectomy as the standard of care in patients with acute anterior circulation stroke, the benefits of thrombectomy remain uncertain for patients with acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of thrombectomy and to identify predictors of outcomes in a large cohort of patients with acute BAO.Methods and ResultsThis study included 212 consecutive patients with acute BAO who underwent either stent‐retriever or contact aspiration thrombectomy as the first‐line approach between January 2011 and August 2017 at 3 stroke centers. Clinical and radiologic data were prospectively collected and stored in a database at each center. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression was performed to assess the association between each characteristic and 90‐day modified Rankin scale scores. Reperfusion was successful in 91.5% (194/212) of patients; 44.8% (95/212) of patients achieved 90‐day modified Rankin scale 0 to 2. The symptomatic hemorrhage rate was 1.9% (4/212) and mortality was 16% (34/212). In a multivariable ordinal regression, younger age, lower National Institute of Health stroke scale on admission, and absence of diabetes mellitus and parenchymal hematoma were significantly associated with a favorable shift in the overall distribution of 90‐day modified Rankin scale scores. Treatment outcomes were similar between patients who received stent‐retriever thrombectomy and contact aspiration thrombectomy as the first‐line technique.ConclusionsEndovascular thrombectomy was effective and safe for treating patients with acute BAO. Age, the baseline National Institute of Health stroke scale, diabetes mellitus, and parenchymal hematoma were associated with better outcomes. This study showed no superiority of the stent‐retriever over the aspiration thrombectomy for treating acute BAO.

Background and Purpose— Factors related to prognosis after a modern mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute basilar artery occlusion remain unclear. This study investigated the prognostic factors for patients with acute basilar artery occlusion who underwent a stent-retriever thrombectomy. Methods— We analyzed clinical and pretreatment diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) data in 50 consecutive patients with acute basilar artery occlusion treated with stent-retriever thrombectomy. A good outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2 at 3 months. The association between clinical and DWI parameters and functional outcome was evaluated with logistic regression analysis. Results— In a univariate analysis, the following variables were significantly associated with outcome: age, hypertension, baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score on a pretreatment DWI, posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score of ≥7 (versus <7), thalamic infarction, and bilateral thalamic infarction. In a multivariate model, only a low initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (odds ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.709–0.949; P =0.008) and high DWI posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score (odds ratio, 1.854; 95% confidence interval 1.012–3.397; P =0.045) were significant independent predictors of good outcome. In a univariate analysis, bilateral thalamic infarction was associated with a poor outcome (odds ratio, 1.993; 95% confidence interval, 1.187–3.346; P =0.035) but not with a unilateral thalamic infarction ( P =0.525). Conclusions— This study suggested that initial infarction severity and posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early CT Score on a pretreatment DWI are independent predictors of clinical outcome after stent-retriever thrombectomy in patients with acute basilar artery occlusion.

Underlying intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis was not uncommon in patients with acute basilar artery occlusion. The occlusion segment of the basilar artery and the presence or absence of bilateral thalamic infarction on a pretreatment DWI might be helpful for predicting underlying intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis in patients with acute basilar artery occlusion. Patients with and without underlying intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis who underwent endovascular therapy had similar outcomes.

Background and Purpose Predictive factors associated with stent-retriever thrombectomy for patients with acute anterior circulation stroke remain to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate clinical and procedural factors predictive of good outcome and mortality after stent-retriever thrombectomy in a large cohort of patients with acute anterior circulation stroke.Methods We analyzed clinical and procedural data in 335 patients with acute anterior circulation stroke treated with stent-retriever thrombectomy. A good outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2 at 3 months. The associations between clinical, imaging, and procedural factors and good outcome and mortality, respectively, were evaluated using logistic regression analysis.Results Using multivariate analysis, age (odds ratio [OR], 0.965; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.944-0.986; P=0.001), successful revascularization (OR, 4.658; 95% CI, 2.240-9.689; P<0.001), parenchymal hemorrhage (OR, 0.150; 95% CI, 0.049-0.460; P=0.001), and baseline NIHSS score (OR, 0.908; 95% CI, 0.855-0.965; P=0.002) were independent predictors of good outcome. Independent predictors of mortality were age (OR, 1.043; 95% CI, 1.002-1.086; P=0.041), successful revascularization (OR, 0.171; 95% CI, 0.079-0.370; P<0.001), parenchymal hemorrhage (OR, 2.961; 95% CI, 1.059-8.276; P=0.038), and a history of previous stroke/TIA (OR, 3.124; 95% CI, 1.340-7.281; P=0.008).Conclusions Age, revascularization status, and parenchymal hemorrhage are independent predictors of both good outcome and mortality after stent retriever thrombectomy for acute anterior circulation stroke. In addition, NIHSS score on admission is independently associated with good outcome, whereas a history of previous stroke is independently associated with mortality.

BackgroundPredictors and impact of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after thrombectomy remain to be elucidated.ObjectiveTo investigate the independent predictors and impact of each hemorrhagic infarction (HI) and parenchymal hematoma (PH) after thrombectomy in patients with acute stroke due to intracranial large vessel occlusion (LVO).Materials and methodsWe retrospectively reviewed data from 400 patients with acute LVO who underwent thrombectomy. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine independent predictors of HI and PH on post-treatment CT scans. Associations between HT and poor outcome (modified Rankin Scalescore ≥3) at 90 days were analyzed.ResultsHT was observed in 98 patients (62 HIs (15.5%) and 36 PHs (9%)). Independent predictors of HI were male sex, atrial fibrillation, and time from symptom onset to groin puncture. Hyperlipidemia (OR=0.221, 95% CI 0.064 to 0.767, P=0.017) and successful reperfusion (OR=0.246, 95% CI 0.093 to 0.651, P=0.005) were independently associated with a lower chance of PH, while hypertension (OR=2.260, 95% CI 1.014 to 5.035, P=0.046) and longer procedure duration (OR=1.046, 95% CI 1.016 to 1.077, P=0.003) were independently associated with a higher chance of PH. Only PH (OR=10.154, 95% CI 3.260 to 31.632, P<0.001) was an independent predictor of poor outcome.ConclusionsPH is independently associated with poor outcome, whereas HI does not predict outcome after thrombectomy in patients with acute LVO. Our findings suggest that rapid and successful reperfusion is essential to prevent PH in patients undergoing thrombectomy for acute LVO. In addition, our study suggests that hyperlipidemia is associated with a lower risk of PH in such patients.