A Prospective Evaluation of Clinical Outcomes in Acute Ischemic Stroke After Endovascular Treatment Using Transcranial
Virginia Commonwealth University
Summary
Endovascular therapy (EVT) has proven to be more beneficial for patients with AIS caused by large vessel occlusions (LVO) than medical management alone. A recent meta-analysis of 5 RCTs showed that EVT significantly reduced disability at 90 days compared to medical management \[1\]. Despite its obvious benefits, patients may have neurological deterioration despite successful thrombectomy due to ischemia progression, intracranial hemorrhage, re-occlusion, or vasogenic edema. The incidence of early neurological deterioration (END) following EVT for acute stroke has been reported to be ranging from 14.1-35.2% with some studies defining END up to 7 days and some restricting the definition between 6-72 hours post thrombectomy. A small proportion of these patients, approximately 5.9-10.5%, experienced sICH following EVT. Whether END occurs due to ischemic or hemorrhagic it leads to worse outcomes.
Description
One reason for END is impaired cerebral autoregulation (CAR), subsequent to the LVO. Cerebral autoregulation (CAR) is the brain's ability to maintain relatively constant cerebral blood flow (CBF) despite fluctuations in systemic blood pressure. Failure of CAR is associated with secondary brain injury that may occur as an extension of the initial ischemic core with the no-reflow phenomenon in hypoperfusion. CAR may also be impaired causing cerebral edema, or hemorrhagic transformation with cerebral hyperperfusion. The degree of recanalization, preexisting hypertensive profile and post thrombect…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Anterior circulation stroke including ACA, MCA or ICA stroke that underwent EVT including tandem occlusions. * Age ≥ 18 years Exclusion Criteria: * Difficulty in detecting the acoustic window by TCD * Pregnancy * Incarcerated patients
Interventions
- OtherTCD measurement
TCD measurement will be collected with TCD low frequency MHz probes. All TCD operations will be performed by a trained sonographer to assess bilateral MCA, ACA, PCA, Siph, and OA. TCD examinations will be performed as soon as possible after EVT, daily for 3 days and, when possible, as close to any reported neurological deterioration or CT brain scan performed within 72 hours of EVT.
- OtherTCD parameters
TCD parameters are PSV, EDV, MFV, and PI. Sampling volume will be 5-10 mm, and the monitoring depth on transtemporal windows will be adjusted to gather appropriate vessel segment, e.g. 20-30 mm in the leptomeningeal flow, 40-50 mm in the distal MCA, 50-60 mm in the proximal MCA, 70-75 mm in the ACA, 62-70 mm in PCA, and transorbital, including 60-64 mm in the Siph and 50-60 mm in the OA. TAMMV and PI will be automatically derived from preset. Additionally, flow diversion will be assessed as an indirect indicator of arterial occlusion or severe stenosis in the middle cerebral artery (M1). It will be identified by TCD based on the following criteria: (1) low-resistance flow pattern in the anterior or posterior cerebral artery, and (2) mean flow velocity in the ACA or PCA greater than or equal to that in the MCA.
- OtherBaseline characteristics
Baseline characteristics will be collected, including age, sex, ethnicity, history of HTN, DM, DLP, CHF, AF, CA, CKD, previous CAD, cirrhosis, mRS, previous stroke or TIA, current antiplatelet usage, current anticoagulant usage, smoking, and alcohol status. This data will be collected through a combination of verbal interviews with participants/LAR legally authorized representatives and a review of their medical history charts.
Location
- Virginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmond, Virginia