Neuroimaging Prediction of Hemorrhagic Transformation for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Hemorrhagic transformation (HT) is a common complication of acute ischemic stroke, often resulting from reperfusion therapy. Early prediction of HT can enable stroke neurologists to undertake measures to avoid clinical deterioration and make optimal treatment strategies. Moreover, the trend of extending the time window for reperfusion therapy (both for intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment) further requires more precise detection of HT tendency.

In this review, we summarized and discussed the neuroimaging markers of HT prediction of acute ischemic stroke patients, mainly focusing on neuroimaging markers of ischemic degree and neuroimaging markers of blood-brain barrier permeability. This review is aimed to provide a concise introduction of HT prediction and to elicit possibilities of future research combining advanced technology to improve the accessibility and accuracy of HT prediction under emergent clinical settings.

Substantial studies have utilized neuroimaging, blood biomarkers, and clinical variables to predict HT occurrence. Although huge progress has been made, more individualized and precise HT prediction using simple and robust imaging predictors combining stroke onset time should be the future goal of development.