Characteristics, procedural metrics, and outcomes of stroke patients receiving mechanical thrombectomy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
| Thrombectomy patients during COVID-19 pandemic (n=235) | Thrombectomy patients before COVID-19 pandemic (n=1848) | P- value* | |
| Age, median (IQR) | 71 (59–79) | 69 (58–79) | 0.058 |
| Females, n (%) | 113 (48.1%) | 901 (48.8%) | 0.846 |
| Racial/ethnic distribution: | 0.01 | ||
| White, n (%) | 146 (62.1%) | 1047 (56.7%) | |
| African American, n (%) | 56 (23.8%) | 609 (32.9%) | |
| Hispanic, n (%) | 31 (13.2%) | 188 (10.2%) | |
| Others, n (%) | 2 (0.9%) | 4 (0.2%) | |
| Admission NIHSS, median (IQR) | 16 (10–21) | 16 (10–21) | 0.898 |
| IV-tPA, n (%) | 106 (45.1%) | 831 (45%) | 0.968 |
| ASPECTS, median (IQR)† | 9 (7–10) | 9 (7–10) | 0.225 |
| Posterior circulation occlusion, n (%) | 21 (8.9%) | 195 (10.6%) | 0.444 |
| Symptom onset to groin in minutes, median (IQR) | 343 (202–576) | 288 (178–575) | 0.065 |
| Number of passes, median (IQR) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 0.921 |
| mTICI ≥2 b, n (%) | 196 (83.4%) | 1588 (85.9%) | 0.228 |
| Procedure duration in minutes, median (IQR) | 44 (25–73) | 38 (21–63) | 0.006 |
| Procedure complications, n (%) | 20 (8.5%) | 163 (8.8%) | 0.874 |
| sICH, n (%) | 15 (6.4%) | 108 (5.8%) | 0.741 |
| Length of hospitalization in days, median (IQR) | 6 (3–10) | 4 (2–5) | <0.001 |
| DC mRS, median (IQR) | 4 (2–5) | 3 (2–4) | 0.015 |
| mRS 0–2 on discharge, n (%) | 77 (32.8%) | 637 (34.5%) | 0.604 |
| In-hospital mortality, n (%) | 44 (18.7%) | 203 (11%) | <0.001 |
*Calculated using chi-square test for categorical variables and Mann–Whitney U test for the continuous variables.
†Only for patients with anterior circulation occlusion.
ASPECTS, Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score; COVID-19, coronavirus disease of 2019; IQR, interquartile range; IV-tPA, intravenous tissue plasminogen activator; LKN, last known normal; mRS, modified Rankin Scale; mTICI, modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction; NIHSS, National Institute of Health Stroke Scale; sICH, symptomatic intracerebral hematoma.