Abstract TP18: Endovascular Treatment in the Elderly with Acute Ischemic Stroke - Is it Safe in Clinical Practice?

Introduction: An overwhelming benefit from endovascular treatment (EVT) of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has been shown in recent trials, making it the new evidence-based standard of care for ischemic stroke due to anterior circulation large vessel occlusion. We sought to determine usage, safety and efficacy of EVT in patients ≥80 years of age. Methods: Using GWTG stroke registry data from MGH and UAMS, we analyzed 7,505 consecutive stroke admissions from 01/2009 - 06/2016. Univariate analysis was carried out to compare AIS patients &lt; 80 vs. those ≥ 80yr. Results: Of the total 7,505 AIS patients, 3,722 presented within 12 hr of last known well and of these 334 (334/3722, 9%) underwent EVT. The majority of AIS patients undergoing EVT were younger than 80yr of age (264/334, 79%). Of the patients who underwent EVT, younger patients were more often male, Caucasian, and had stroke risk factors of atrial fibrillation, CAD, hypertension and smokers. The two groups were similar in NIHSS, initial clinical presentation, modified pre-stroke Rankin scale of ≤ 3, and initiation of tPA as a drip and ship or stroke center front-door administration. Higher rates of pneumonia were observed in younger patients while rates of sICH were similar. Younger patients were more often discharged to home/inpatient rehabilitation facility. On univariate analysis, in-hospital mortality was significantly higher in patients ≥ 80yr [Unadj. OR 2.50 (1.24, 5.03), p=0.01], however the strength of the association attenuated substantially after adjusting for significant covariates [Adj. OR 2.34 (0.99, 5.47), p=0.05] (Table). Conclusion: Elderly stroke patients are largely excluded from clinical trials and data are limited on the effectiveness of EVT in this cohort. Our results showed that rate of sICH and adjusted in-hospital mortality was not statistically different between those &lt; 80yr vs. ≥ 80yr. Further studies are needed to explore the functional outcome of the elderly stroke patients undergoing EVT. </jats:p

Abstract WMP88: Temporal Trends in the Rates of Endovascular Treatment for Patients Presenting with Acute Ischemic Stroke

Introduction: Endovascular therapy is the current standard of care for eligible patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to large artery anterior circulation occlusion. All patients with moderate to severe symptoms and a treatable occlusion should be considered for EVT. We sought to evaluate temporal trends in the rates of EVT use at the two large academic stroke centers in the US. Methods: Using GWTG stroke registry data from MGH and UAMS, we analyzed 7,505 consecutive stroke admissions from 01/09 - 06/16. We evaluated the temporal trends in patient characteristics, clinical care and timeliness of care among the population of all patients and those treated within 6 or 12 hr from last known well (LKW). Results: Of the total 7,505 AIS patients, 3,722 (49%) presented within 12 hr of LKW and 2,716 (36%) within 6 hr. There were a total of 404 EVT performed at the two centers (334 ≤ 12 hr and 304 ≤ 6 hr). We observed a significant increase in the rates of EVTs performed over the past eight years with a near doubling of EVT and the sharpest rise in 2013-14 after the MR CLEAN results were presented (Figure 1). While patient characteristics remained largely unchanged, care got faster with significant decreases in time from door to CT, to tPA and to EVT. In addition, rates of drip and ship tPA cases increased from 26% to 39%. Conclusion: At two major academic stroke centers, rates of EVT increased sharply after high quality evidence supporting its use were presented. An ongoing national emphasis on improving door to tPA times appears to be working, and to be associated with improvements in EVT delivery as well. Further work is needed to improve prehospital triage and inhospital delays to increase access to rapid EVT. </jats:p

Endovascular Treatment of Stroke Due to Medium-Vessel Occlusion

BackgroundWhether the large effect size of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for stroke due to large-vessel occlusion applies to stroke due to medium-vessel occlusion is unclear.MethodsIn a multicenter, prospective, randomized, open-label trial with blinded outcome evaluation, we assigned patients with acute ischemic stroke due to medium-vessel occlusion who presented within 12 hours from the time that they were last known to be well and who had favorable baseline noninvasive brain imaging to receive EVT plus usual care or usual care alone. The primary outcome was the modified Rankin scale score (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]) at 90 days, reported as the percentage of patients with a score of 0 or 1.ResultsA total of 530 patients from five countries were enrolled between April 2022 and June 2024, with 255 patients assigned to the EVT group and 275 to the usual-care group. Most patients (84.7%) had primary occlusions in a middle-cerebral-artery branch. A modified Rankin scale score of 0 or 1 at 90 days occurred in 106 of 255 patients (41.6%) in the EVT group and in 118 of 274 (43.1%) in the usual-care group (adjusted rate ratio, 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79 to 1.15; P=0.61). Mortality at 90 days was 13.3% in the EVT group and 8.4% in the usual-care group (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.12). Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 14 of 257 patients (5.4%) in the EVT group and in 6 of 272 (2.2%) in the usual-care group.ConclusionsEndovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke due to medium-vessel occlusion within 12 hours did not lead to better outcomes at 90 days than usual care. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and Medtronic; ESCAPE-MeVO ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05151172.)<br/