Endovascular Therapy for Ischemic Stroke Can Be Successfully Performed by Peripheral Vascular Interventionalists

To describe interventionalist and workflow characteristics of an acute stroke endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) center without a dedicated interventional neuroradiology service and report clinical and radiologic outcomes.

Retrospective review was performed of all patients receiving EVT at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand, from June 2014 to the end of December 2019 from a prospective reperfusion registry. During the study period, 5 peripheral vascular interventional radiologists, 2 of whom had experience in other neuroendovascular procedures, performed 210 EVT procedures. Median age of patients was 76 years (interquartile range: 64-83 y), and 107 (51%) were men.

The most commonly occluded vessel was the M1 middle cerebral artery (n = 114; 54%). Successful reperfusion (Modified Treatment In Cerebral Ischemia score 2b-3) was achieved in 180 (86%) procedures. Favorable 90-day outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 0-2) was achieved in 102 (54%) patients with no disability before stroke. Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 3 (1.4%) patients. Treatment rates in the local catchment area increased from 6 per 100,000 population in 2017 to 15 per 100,000 in 2019.

The results of this study suggest peripheral vascular interventional radiologists with specific training can successfully perform EVT resulting in a significant increase in EVT provision.