The Role of CT Perfusion in Defining the Clinically Relevant Core Infarction to Guide Thrombectomy Selection in Patients with Acute Stroke

• Published in: Journal of neuroimaging Vol. 29; no. 3; p. 331
• Main Authors: Shaker, Hussam, Khan, Muhib, Mulderink, Todd, Koehler, Tracy J, Scurek, Raymond, Tubergen, Tricia, Packard, Laurel, Singer, Justin, Mazaris, Paul, Min, Jiangyong, Wees, Nabil, Khan, Nadeem, Abdelhak, Tamer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2019
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Female; Humans; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery - diagnostic imaging; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery - surgery; Male; Middle Aged; Perfusion Imaging - methods; Retrospective Studies; Stroke - diagnostic imaging; Stroke - surgery; Thrombectomy - methods; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; magnetic resonance imaging; perfusion; Computed tomography; core infarct
• ISSN: 1552-6569
• DOI: 10.1111/jon.12599

Infarct core assessment on presentation is important to evaluate salvageable tissue to select patients for thrombectomy. Our study aims to evaluate the correlation between infarct core volume measured by computed tomography (CT) perfusion (CTP) and magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted imaging (MR-DWI) in patients with acute large-vessel occlusion. We studied patients who underwent CTP on presentation to the emergency department for stroke symptoms. National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), collateral status, symptomatic vessels, and modified Rankin scale (mRS) at 90 days were collected. Admission infarct core volume was measured on initial relative cerebral blood volume and final infarct core volume on follow-up DWI. The correlation between two measures was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Seventy-four patients were studied of which 41.9% were female. Median NIHSS was 13 (2-30). Middle cerebral artery occlusion was present in 53 (71.6%) patients and 54 (72.9%) had good collaterals. Good functional outcome of mRS 0-2 was achieved by 60.8% at 90 days. There was a strong correlation between CTP and MR-DWI (r = .94). There was no significant difference between volume (in milliliters) on CTP (54.1 ± 69.8) and volume on DWI (50.3 ± 59.7; P = .18) using the paired t-test. CTP provides a good estimation of the core infarct volume. It performs well within the clinically relevant thresholds for patient selection for thrombectomy.