Abstract TP43: Is Unintended Hypothermia After Endovascular Therapy Associated With Improved Functional Outcome of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke?

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Introduction: Hypothermia may be neuroprotective in acute ischemic stroke. Stroke patients with anterior circulation large vessel occlusion (acLVO) who receive endovascular therapy (EVT) are frequently hypothermic after the procedure. We sought to analyze whether this unintended hypothermia was associated with improved functional outcome. Methods: We extracted data of consecutive patients (01/2016-04/2019) from our prospective EVT database that includes all patients screened for EVT at our center. We included patients with acLVO who received EVT and analyzed recanalization (mTICI 2b-3) and complications (i.e., pneumonia, bradyarrhythmia, venous thromboembolism) during the hospital course. We assessed functional outcome at 3 months and analyzed risk ratios (RR) for good outcome (mRS scores 0-2) and mortality of patients who were hypothermic (<36°C) compared to patients who were normothermic ( > 36°C) after EVT. We compared the frequency of complications and calculated RRs for good outcome and mortality in the subgroup with recanalization. Results: Among 674 patients with anterior circulation ischemic stroke, 372 patients received EVT for acLVO (178 [47%] male, age 77 years [65-82], NIHSS score 16 [12 - 20]). Of these, 186 patients (50%) were hypothermic (median [IQR] temperature 35.2°C [34.7-35.6]) and 186 patients were normothermic (media temperature 36.4 [36.2-36.8]) after EVT. At 3 months, 54 of 186 (29.0%) hypothermic patients compared with 65 of 186 (35.0%) normothermic patients had a good outcome (RR, 0.83; 95%CI 0.62-1.12) and 52 of 186 (27.9%) hypothermic patients compared with 46 of 186 (24.7%) normothermic patients had died (RR, 1.13; 95%CI 0.8-1.59). This relation was consistent in 307 patients (82.5% of all EVTs) with successful recanalization (good outcome: RR, 0.85; 95%CI 0.63-1.14.; mortality: RR, 1.05; 95%CI 0.7-1.57). More hypothermic patients suffered pneumonia (37.8% vs. 24.7%; p=0.003) or bradyarrhythmia (55.6% vs. 18.3%; p<0.001). Venous thromboembolism was distributed similarly (5.4% vs. 6.5%; p=0.42). Conclusion: Unintended hypothermia following EVT for acLVO was not associated with improved functional outcome or reduced mortality but an increased complication rate in patients with acute ischemic stroke.