Article Text
Abstract
Background The influence of leukoaraiosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) given intra-arterial treatment (IAT) with or without preceding intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) remains unknown.
Objective To assess the clinical and radiological outcomes of IAT in patients with or without leukoaraiosis.
Methods Patients of the direct mechanical thrombectomy trial (DIRECT-MT) whose leukoaraiosis grade could be assessed were included. DIRECT-MT was a randomized clinical trial performed in China to assess the effect of direct IAT compared with intravenous thrombolysis plus IAT. We employed the Age-Related White Matter Changes Scale for grading leukoaraiosis (ARWMC, 0 indicates no leukoaraiosis, 1–2 indicates mild-to-moderate leukoaraiosis, and 3 indicates severe leukoaraiosis) based on brain CT. The primary outcome was the score on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) assessed at 90 days.
Results There were 656 patients in the trial, 649 patients who were included, with 432 patients without leukoaraiosis, and 217 (33.4%) patients with leukoaraiosis divided into mild-to-moderate (n=139) and severe groups (n=78). Leukoaraiosis was a predictor of a worse mRS score (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.7 (95% CI 0.5 to 0.8)) and higher mortality (aOR=1.4 (1.1 to 1.9)), but it was not associated with symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) (aOR=0.9 (0.5 to 1.5)). IVT preceding IAT did not increase sICH risk for patients with no (aOR=1.4 (0.6 to 3.4)), mild-to-moderate (aOR=1.5 (0.3 to 7.8)), or severe (aOR=1.5 (0.1 to 21.3)) leukoaraiosis.
Conclusion Patients with leukoaraiosis with AIS due to large vessel occlusion are at increased risk of a poor functional outcome after IAT but demonstrate similar sICH rates, and IVT preceding IAT does not increase the risk of sICH in Chinese patients with leukoaraiosis.
- intervention
- stroke
- thrombectomy
Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Not applicable.
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Data availability statement
Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Not applicable.
Footnotes
TY and YZ contributed equally.
Collaborators Co-author of DIRECT-MT Investigators is listed in online supplemental appendix table.
Contributors TY: substantial contributions to the conception; drafting the work and revising it critically for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published. YZ: revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published. WC: substantial contributions to the conception, revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published. YW, DL, XL: acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; final approval of the version to be published. LZ, PX, TL, YZ, SW: revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; interpretation of data for the work. PY' MC: agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. JL: substantial contributions to the design of the work, agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Funding Sponsored by National Health commission capacity building and continuing education center (grant number: GWJJ2021100203).
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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