Clinical and radiological characteristics
| Characteristics | All patients (n=102) | e-ASPECTS decline (n=54) | e-ASPECTS no decline (n=48) | P value |
| Age, mean (SD) | 74.3 (11.3) | 73.9 (12.5) | 74.7 (9.9) | 0.809 |
| Women | 51 (50.0) | 27 (50.0) | 24 (50.0) | >0.99 |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Arterial hypertension | 69 (67.6) | 36 (66.7) | 33 (68.8) | 0.836 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 30 (29.4) | 10 (18.5) | 20 (41.7) | 0.016 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 24 (23.5) | 13 (24.1) | 11 (22.9) | >0.99 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 50 (49.0) | 27 (50.0) | 23 (47.9) | 0.846 |
| Onset to 1st scan, min* | 94 (71–172) | 91 (72–146) | 100 (69–195) | 0.351 |
| Site of LVO | 0.143 | |||
| ICA | 13 (12.7) | 8 (14.8) | 5 (10.4) | |
| MCA, M1 | 40 (39.2) | 24 (44.4) | 16 (33.3) | |
| MCA, M2 | 27 (26.5) | 10 (18.5) | 17 (35.4) | |
| Tandem occlusion | 17 (16.7) | 11 (20.4) | 6 (12.5) | |
| No LVO† | 5 (4.9) | 1 (1.9) | 4 (8.3) | |
| e-ASPECTS at RH | 9 (8–10) | 9 (8–10) | 9 (6–10) | 0.039 |
| Collateral status at RH | 3 (2–3) | 2 (2–3) | 3 (2–3) | 0.229 |
| Thrombolysis | 65 (63.7) | 37 (68.5) | 28 (58.3) | 0.309 |
| Thrombectomy | 60 (58.8) | 34 (63.0) | 26 (54.2) | 0.423 |
| Good reperfusion‡ | 43/60 (71.7) | 26/34 (76.5) | 17/26 (65.4) | 0.396 |
| mRS, prestroke | 2 (0–3) | 1 (0–3) | 2 (0–3) | 0.766 |
| mRS, at 3 months§ | 4 (3–5) | 5 (3–6) | 4 (3–5) | 0.014 |
| IMG-to-IMG time, min | 149 (113–190) | 152 (118–186) | 141 (111–199) | 0.957 |
Data are median (IQR) or n (%) if not indicated otherwise.
*Reference to known stroke onset or last-seen-well in case of unknown exact onset.
†No LVO, cases without CT angiography at referring hospital. Probable spontaneous recanalization (n=3) or after thrombolysis (n=2).
‡Defined as modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2b/3.
§mRS at 3 months, last observation mRS carried forward. in n=42 (no between-group difference); final missing outcome data at 3 months, 2%.
ICA, internal carotid artery; IMG, image; LVO, large vessel occlusion; MCA, middle cerebral artery; mRS, modified Rankin scale; RH, referring hospitals.