TICI-RANKIN mismatch: Poor clinical outcome despite complete endovascular reperfusion in the ETIS Registry

Endovascular treatment (EVT) is a well-established technic for acute ischemic stroke, but despite a high recanalization rate of near 80%, at 3 months roughly 50% of patients have a poor functional outcome with a modified Rankin score (mRS) ≥3. The aim of this study was to determine predictive factors of poor functional outcomes in patients with complete recanalization after EVT, defined as modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) 3.

This retrospective analysis based on the prospective multicenter ETIS registry (endovascular treatment in ischemic stroke) in France included 795 patients from January 2015 and November 2019 with acute ischemic stroke due to anterior circulation occlusion and prestroke mRS 0-1, treated with EVT and who achieved complete recanalization. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify predictive factors of poor functional outcome.

365 patients (46%) showed a poor functional outcome (mRS>2). In backward-stepwise logistic regression analysis, poor functional outcome was independently associated with older age (OR per 10-year increase, 1.51; 95%CI, 1.30 to 1.75), higher admission NIHSS (OR per 1 point increase, 1.28; 95%CI, 1.21 to 1.34), absence of prior intravenous thrombolysis (OR, 0.59; 95%CI, 0.39 to 0.90), and an unfavorable 24-hour NIHSS change (24h-baseline) (OR, 0.82; 95%CI, 0.79 to 0.87). We calculated that patients whose 24h NIHSS decreased by less than 5 points are more at risk of a poor outcome, with a sensitivity and a specificity of 65.0%.

Despite complete reperfusion after EVT, half of patients had a poor clinical outcome. These patients, who were mainly older with a high initial NIHSS and an unfavorable post-EVT 24h NIHSS change, could represent a target population for early neurorepair and neurorestorative strategies.