Risk and Benefit Evaluation: Application of Multiphase Computed Tomography Angiography in Mechanical Thrombectomy for...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the collateral circulation in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) by multiphase computed tomography angiography (mCTA) and explore its application value in the risk and benefit assessment after thrombectomy.

Clinical and imaging parameters of AIS patients who underwent thrombectomy were consecutively collected. The 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was used as the standard for evaluating the recovery of neurological functions. The receiver operating characteristic curve and correlation analysis were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of collateral circulation in the clinical outcomes at 90 days and the correlation with symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH), respectively.

Thirty of 58 AIS patients (51.7%) had favorable functional recovery (90-day mRS score, ≤2). Significant differences were observed in age, time from symptom onset to groin puncture, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at admission and 24 hours after thrombectomy, mRS score at discharge, collateral circulation score, and target mismatch between the favorable and unfavorable groups (P < 0.05). The diagnostic efficacy of mCTA collateral score (area under the curve, 0.697; 95% confidence interval, 0.563-0.831) was similar to that of computed tomography perfusion target mismatch (area under the curve, 0.740; 95% confidence interval, 0.609-0.872) (DeLong test, P = 0.575). The collateral circulation score was significantly negatively correlated with sICH (ρ = -0.607, P < 0.001). Patients with sICH had lower collateral circulation scores and higher 90-day mRS scores (P < 0.05).

The mCTA collateral score has good application value in the risk and benefit evaluation after mechanical thrombectomy, and it is well suited for routine emergency assessment of AIS patients.