IV Thrombolysis Facilitates Interventional Reperfusion in Non-Cardioembolic but Not Cardioembolic Stroke

Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) before thrombectomy for ischemic stroke may alter clot structure and procedural performance. We investigated how IVT relates to thrombectomy metrics across stroke etiologies.

We performed a time-to-event analysis of consecutive patients with anterior circulation large vessel occlusion (acLVO) stroke from a prospective thrombectomy registry at a German tertiary stroke center (January 2017-January 2023). The associations between IVT and groin-to-recanalization time and number of aspiration attempts were assessed using multivariable stratified Cox regression adjusted for demographic, cardiovascular, and stroke-related variables.

Of 1702 patients screened, 798 (413 female [51.8%], median age 77 years [66, 84; IQR]) underwent thrombectomy. IVT was administered to 395 (49.5%) patients, and successful reperfusion (mTICI ≥ 2b) was achieved in 680 (85.2%) patients. In non-cardioembolic stroke, IVT facilitated clot removal, yielding a 40% higher likelihood of successful reperfusion at any time point compared with direct thrombectomy (aHR 1.40; 95% CI [1.08, 1.81]; p = 0.01) and a 36% reduction of aspiration attempts (IRR = 0.64, 95% CI [0.50-0.84], p = 0.001). In cardioembolic stroke, IVT did not alter the incidence of successful reperfusion during thrombectomy (aHR 1.13; 95% CI [0.92, 1.39]; p = 0.26) or the number of aspiration attempts (combined IRR ≈ 1.00, 95% CI [0.82-1.22]) but was associated with a 43% lower likelihood of successful reperfusion throughout the intervention if distal thrombus migration occurred (aHR 0.57; 95% CI [0.33, 0.96]; p = 0.03).

IVT was associated with faster reperfusion during thrombectomy in non-cardioembolic acLVO, whereas in cardioembolic stroke with distal clot migration it was associated with delayed reperfusion.