title: Basilar artery occlusion: Prognostic signs of severity on computed tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the computed tomography (CT) signs that are predictive of the clinical outcome of basilar artery occlusion (BAO).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population consisted in 37 patients (14 women, 23 men, mean age: 63 years), admitted with onset of neurological deficit, starting 1-72 h prior to admission, who were diagnosed with BAO on the basis of a CT examination with intravenous contrast agent. The following signs were collected on CT scans performed on admission: clot density on noncontrast images, clot length, and clot location, as well as the presence of acute ischemic lesions. The results were compared against the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of patients at 3 months, favorable clinical outcome being defined as a mRS score ≤3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical outcome was favorable in 13 (35%) of the 37 patients and unfavorable in 24 (65%). Signs of acute ischemia were visible in 13 of the 24 patients with unfavorable outcome but in none of the 13 patients with favorable outcome (p<0.001). None of the other CT signs analyzed were significantly correlated with clinical prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Of all the CT signs analyzed, only the presence of signs of acute ischemia on the admission CT of patients with BAO was associated with poor prognosis.
authors: Service of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: pierre-alexandre.poletti@hcuge.ch.
authors: Pierre-Alexandre
authors: PA
authors: Poletti
authors: Service of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Canada; Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors: Vitor Mendes
authors: VM
authors: Pereira
authors: Service of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors: Karl-Olof
authors: KO
authors: Lovblad
authors: Service of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors: Lucie
authors: L
authors: Canel
authors: Service of Neurology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors: Roman
authors: R
authors: Sztajzel
authors: Service of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors: Minerva
authors: M
authors: Becker
authors: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University Hospital of Geneva, 4 rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Perneger
authors: Service of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors: Alexandra
authors: A
authors: Platon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001488:Basilar Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Basilar artery; Computed tomography; Occlusion