Abstract W P80: Predictors of Cognitive Status in Post-Aneurysm Surgery Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Patients who undergo surgical treatment for ruptured intracranial aneurysms may have a different risk profile for a spectrum of cognitive impairment based upon characteristics at presentation of their subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods: The Intraoperative Hypothermia for Aneurysm Surgery Trial (IHAST) is a multi-center, prospective, randomized clinical trial investigation of whether induced hypothermia during surgical treatment for subarachnoid hemorrhage resulted in improved outcomes. Cognitive status was defined by raw Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) cutoff scores. A normal cognition was defined as a MMSE score of 28 or greater. Mildly impaired patients were defined as a score of 24-27, and severely impaired patients were defined as those with a score of less than 24. Age was analyzed by five-year age groups, with the exception of patients 30 or younger and patients 75 and older. Ordinal logistic regression was utilized to determine the final predictors. Results: Of the 1,000 patients who were followed for cognitive testing, 61 died and 21 were medically untestable. Five patients refused testing and tests were not administered to 30 patients. A total of 883 patients completed the MMSE at 3 months post-surgery. Based on the raw MMSE scores, the median score for the severely impaired patients was 20 (IQR: 16-22), 26 (IQR: 25-27) for mildly impaired patients, and 29 (IQR: 29-30) for cognitively normal patients. Gender, and race were found to be statistically significant (p<.05) predictors after controlling for age and education. Baseline Rankin Score and the occurrence of a leakage or rupture during surgery were also predictive of cognitive status. The World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Score, the Fisher’s SAH Score, and aneurysm size and location were not found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Patients with surgical treatment for subarachnoid hemorrhage share several demographic risk factors associated with cognitive changes in the general public, but have additional neurological risk factors associated with SAH and aneurysm procedures.