Imaging-based endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke due to proximal intracranial anterior circulation occlusion treated beyond 8 hours from time last seen well: retrospective multicenter analysis of 237 consecutive patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current selection criteria for intra-arterial therapies in the anterior circulation use time windows of 8 hours. Modern neuroimaging techniques have identified individuals with salvageable penumbra who present beyond this timeframe. We sought to assess safety, procedural, and clinical outcomes of MRI or CT perfusion imaging-based endovascular therapy in patients with anterior circulation stroke treated beyond 8 hours from time last seen well. METHODS We conducted a multicenter retrospective review of consecutive patients meeting the following criteria: (1) acute proximal intracranial anterior circulation occlusion; (2) endovascular treatment initiated >8 hours from time last seen well; and (3) treatment selection based on MRI or CT perfusion imaging. RESULTS Two hundred thirty-seven patients were identified (mean age, 63.8 ± 16 years; mean baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, 15 ± 5.5; mean time last seen well to treatment, 15 ± 11.2 hours; male gender, 46%). Successful revascularization was achieved in 175 of 237 (73.84%) patients. Parenchymal hematoma occurred in 21 of 237 (8.86%) patients. The 90-day mortality rate was 21.5% (51 of 237). The rate of good outcomes was 45% (100 of 223) in the 223 patients with available modified Rankin Scale data at 90 days or time of hospital discharge. In multivariate analyses, age (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.94 to 0.98; P=0.002), admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (OR, 0.93; 0.87 to 0.98; P=0.016), and successful revascularization (OR, 4.32; 1.99 to 9.39; P<0.0001) were identified as independent predictors of good outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Endovascular therapy can be instituted with acceptable safety beyond 8 hours from time last seen well when selection is based on advanced neuroimaging. Successful revascularization is significantly associated with higher rates of good outcomes. The benefit of this approach compared with standard medical therapy should be assessed in a prospective randomized trial.