Endovascular recanalization therapy in acute ischemic stroke.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients not eligible for systemic thrombolysis (outside the 3-hour time window, after surgery, or on anticoagulant) undergoing endovascular recanalization therapy (ERT) at the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and to determine US nationwide usage and outcome of ERT in acute ischemic stroke.


METHODS
Patients treated at CUMC from 2001 to 2004 and the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) comprising 20% of all admissions in the United States from 1999 to 2002 were analyzed retrospectively.


RESULTS
Thirty-one patients underwent ERT. Mean age was 68+/-14 years, 68% were female, and 45% nonwhite (occlusion sites: internal carotid artery 29%; middle cerebral artery 39%; posterior circulation 32%). Pharmacological or mechanical ERT was initiated beyond 3 hours after symptom onset (median time 4.4 hours) in 61%, 29% had surgery, and 39% were on anticoagulant medication. At discharge, 32% had modified Rankin Scale scores of 0 to 2 (52% discharged home or to rehabilitation facilities); overall mortality was 29%, of which 19% were fatal intracerebral hemorrhages. From the NIS cohort, 477 patients (0.17% of all strokes and 14% of all thrombolysis cases) underwent ERT. Fifteen percent died, and approximately 50% were discharged home or to rehabilitation facilities. Intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in 6%. Fewer good outcomes of the CUMC cohort may be explained by more unfavorable premorbid patient characteristics compared with the NIS cohort.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite significant variability in patient characteristics and treatment methods among 2 sources of data analyzed, ERT in stroke patients not eligible for intravenous thrombolysis appears to be a relatively safe and effective treatment alternative that is being used increasingly nationwide.
Choi
Jae H
JH
Stroke Center, The Neurological Institute, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA. jchoi@neuro.columbia.edu
Bateman
Brian T
BT
Mangla
Sundeep
S
Marshall
Randolph S
RS
Prabhakaran
Shyam
S
Chong
Ji
J
Mohr
Jay P
JP
Mast
Henning
H
Pile-Spellman
John
J
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon; D002404:Catheterization / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome