Post-stroke blood-brain barrier disruption predicts poor outcome in patients enrolled in the ACTION study

A prior study found a link between post-stroke blood-brain barrier disruption and functional outcomes. The current study aimed to replicate this finding in a cohort of patients recruited in the context of a randomized clinical trial.

The ACTION trial was a study of natalizumab in acute stroke patients. Patients with MRI-perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) were included in this post-hoc analysis. Blood-brain permeability images (BBPI) were calculated from the PWI source images. Mean BBPI values from the 24 h time point were compared with modified Rankin scores (mRS) at 5, 30, and 90-day assessments using linear regression. Good functional outcome (mRS< = 1) was compared with mean BBPI using logistic regression.

One hundred and nineteen patients were included in the analysis (median age = 74, 43% female). Higher mean BBPI was associated with worse mRS at 5 days (p = 0.002; r² = 0.078) and 30 days (p = 0.036; r² = 0.039) but did not reach statistical significance at 90 days (p = 0.30; r² = 0.010). When removing high-value outliers, all outcome measures showed a stronger relationship with mean BBPI. Logistic regression found that with every 1% increase in mean BBPI measured 24 h after the stroke, the likelihood of achieving a good functional outcome at 90 days is decreased by half (OR = 0.53; CI = 0.30:0.95; p = 0.032).

With sufficient image quality, elevated BBPI measured in the days after an ischemic event is predictive of worse functional outcome and may serve as a biomarker for post-stroke inflammation.