Univariate comparison of the balloon guide catheter and non-balloon guide catheter groups of patients with anterior circulation stroke
| Overall (n=426) | Non-BGC (n=155, 36.38%) | BGC (n=271, 63.62%) | P-value | |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 76 (65;84) | 76 (65.5;83.5) | 76 (65;84) | 0.747 |
| Female gender, n (%) | 219 (51.4%) | 78 (50.3%) | 141 (52%) | 0.735 |
| NIHSS score at admission, median (IQR) | 16 (10;20) | 16 (12;20) | 16 (10;20) | 0.150 |
| ASPECTS at admission, median (IQR) | 9 (7;10) | 8 (7;10) | 9 (8;10) | 0.001 |
| Last time seen well (min), median (IQR) | 248.5 (165;502) | 287 (173;480) | 235 (160;519) | 0.362 |
| IV tPA administered, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| None | 313 (73.5) | 101 (65.2) | 212 (78.2) | |
| Partial dose | 35 (8.2) | 10 (6.5) | 25 (12.5) | |
| Completed dose | 78 (18.3) | 44 (28.4) | 34 (9.2) | |
| General anesthesia, n (%) | 130 (30.5) | 36 (23.2) | 94 (34.7) | 0.006 |
| Local anesthesia, n (%) | 94 (22.1) | 30 (19.4) | 64 (23.6) | |
| Conscious sedation, n (%) | 202 (47.4) | 89 (57.4) | 113 (41.7) | |
| Left site occlusion, n (%) | 225 (52.8) | 79 (51) | 146 (53.9) | 0.563 |
| Level of vessel occlusion, n (%) | 0.009 | |||
| ICA carotid terminus | 73 (17.1) | 37 (23.9) | 36 (13.3) | |
| MCA–M1 | 232 (54.8) | 83 (53.5) | 149 (55) | |
| MCA–M2 | 121 (28.4) | 35 (22.6) | 86 (31.7) | |
| Groin puncture to first run (min), median (IQR) | 6 (5;11) | 8 (5;15) | 6 (4;10) | 0.016 |
| Mechanical thrombectomy (min), median (IQR) | 27 (14;51.2) | 33 (23;53.8) | 22.5 (12.5;75) | <0.001 |
| Groin puncture to revascularization (min), median (IQR) | 37(22;63) | 43(33;71) | 30(19;58) | <0.001 |
| FPE, n (%) | 167 (39.2) | 43 (27.7) | 124 (45.8) | <0.001 |
| mFPE, n (%) | 221 (51.9) | 65 (29.4) | 156 (70.6) | 0.002 |
| Final number of passes, n (%) | 2 (1;3) | 2 (1;3) | 1 (1;3) | 0.051 |
| 1 | 199 (46.7) | 60 (38.7) | 139 (51.3) | |
| 2 | 107 (25.1) | 48 (31.0) | 59 (21.8) | |
| >2 | 120 (28.2) | 47 (30.3) | 73 (26.9) | |
| Final mTICI ≥2 b, n (%) | 380 (89.2) | 134 (86.4) | 246 (90.8) | <0.001 |
| Final mTICI ≥2 c, n (%) | 286 (67.1) | 78 (50.3) | 208 (76.8) | <0.001 |
| Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, n (%) | 31 (10.4) | 20 (14.2) | 11 (7) | 0.041 |
| NIHSS score at 24 hours, median (IQR) | 7 (2;14) | 10 (4;17.5) | 4.5 (1;12) | <0.001 |
| Difference of NIHSS from admission to 24 hours, median (IQR) | 6 (1;12) | 3 (0;10) | 8 (2–12) | 0.010 |
| mRS score 0–2 at 3 months, n (%) | 135 (56.5) | 62 (54.4) | 73 (58.4) | 0.532 |
| Mortality, n (%) | 56 (23.4) | 34 (29.8) | 22 (17.6) | 0.026 |
ASPECTS, Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score; BGC, balloon guide catheter; FPE, first-pass effect; ICA, Internal Carotid Artery; IQR, interquartile range; mRS, modified Rankin Scale; mTICI, modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.