Cerebral vessel anatomy as a predictor of first-pass effect in mechanical thrombectomy for emergent large-vessel...

Mechanical thrombectomy is effective in acute ischemic stroke secondary to emergent large-vessel occlusion, but optimal efficacy is contingent on fast and complete recanalization. First-pass recanalization does not occur in the majority of patients. The authors undertook this study to determine if anatomical parameters of the intracranial vessels impact the likelihood of first-pass complete recanalization.

The authors retrospectively evaluated data obtained in 230 patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke secondary to large-vessel occlusion at their institution from 2016 to 2018. Eighty-six patients were identified as having pure M1 occlusions, and 76 were included in the final analysis. The authors recorded and measured clinical and anatomical parameters and evaluated their relationships to the first-pass effect.

The first-pass effect was achieved in 46% of the patients. When a single device was employed, aspiration thrombectomy was more effective than stent retriever thrombectomy. A larger M1 diameter (p = 0.001), decreased vessel diameter tapering between the petrous segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and M1 (p < 0.001), and distal collateral grading (p = 0.044) were associated with first-pass recanalization. LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) was used to generate a predictive model for recanalization using anatomical variables.

The authors demonstrated that a larger M1 vessel diameter, low rate of vessel diameter tapering along the course of the intracranial ICA, and distal collateral status are associated with first-pass recanalization for patients with M1 occlusions.