Abstract WP208: Infarction Size Affects Clinical Outcomes in Emergent Carotid Artery Stenting With Mechanical Thrombectomy

Abstract

Background: Management of large vessel occlusion with extensive ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion is unknown. We evaluated patients who underwent emergent carotid artery stenting (CAS) of the ICA with mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Methods: We retrospectively collected baseline demographic, clinical, and radiographic data on 27 patients who presented as a stroke alert within 24 hours of symptoms and had extensive (from bifurcation to distal ICA) occlusion by computerized tomography angiography from 2019-2023 at our institution. All patients underwent CAS with MT and received dual antiplatelet therapy. We measured outcomes by: (1) development of symptomatic ICH at 24 hours, (2) mortality, (3) Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days, and (4) change in NIHSS at 24 hours. Baseline characteristics were reported by descriptive statistics. Statistical analyses were completed using Fisher’s exact test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and logistic regression. Differences were statistically significant at p < 0.05. Results: The mean age for our cohort was 64.5 ± 10.62 and nine patients were females (33.3%). Sixteen had M1 (59.3%) while 10 had M2 occlusion (37%), 14 patients received IV tPA (51.9%), and mean NIHSS at presentation was 15.6 ± 5.99. All patients achieved TICI 2b or TICI 3 recanalization. In our cohort, patients with lower ASPECT score 7.4 ± 1.8 compared to those with higher ASPECT score 9.0 ± 1.0 were more likely to have symptomatic ICH ( p = 0.032), and higher odds of mortality OR = 0.496, 95% CI (0.261-0.945). The development of symptomatic ICH at 24 hours following procedure was associated with severe disability (mRS 4-6) at 90 days ( p = 0.032). Administration of intravenous tPA was significantly associated with improvement of 4 or more points on NIHSS at 24 hours ( p = 0.032), but not with symptomatic ICH ( p = 0.419). Age, NIHSS at presentation, systolic blood pressure, and diabetes mellitus were not associated with mortality or symptomatic ICH. Conclusion: The area of infarction at the time of presentation (ASPECT score) is an essential factor in stratifying patient selection for emergent CAS during MT in extensive internal carotid artery occlusion. Further studies are needed to evaluate infarction size for safe interventions.