Direct aspiration thrombectomy experience with the SOFIA 6F catheter in acute ischemic stroke.

Abstract

As the SOFIA (Soft torqueable catheter Optimized For Intracranial Access) 6F catheter has a large luminal diameter, it can be used as an aspiration catheter. Furthermore, it may function as an intermediate catheter when a stent retriever is required. We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the SOFIA 6F catheter in mechanical thrombectomy with the direct aspiration first pass technique. Patients who had undergone mechanical thrombectomy (September 2017-January 2019) using the SOFIA 6F catheter in two centers were retrospectively analyzed. We used the thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (TICI) scale to evaluate the success of recanalization. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores on admission and discharge were used together with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at 90days. In 132 (89.1%) of the 148 cases, the thrombus was in the anterior system. The SOFIA 6F catheter reached the thrombus site in 130 (87.8%) cases. The rate of successful recanalization (TICI ≥ 2b) was 89.1%. The targeted clinical outcome (mRS score ≤ 2 at 90th days) was achieved in 49.3% of cases. Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 5.4%. The rate of emboli to new vascular territories was 5.4%. Mortality was 14.1%. In the majority of our cases, the SOFIA 6F catheter provided effective and rapid recanalization with aspiration thrombectomy.