diagnosis and imaging

Vignan Yogendrakumar, MD, MSc
@VYogendrakumar

Kappelhof M, Tolhuisen ML, Treurniet KM, Dutra BG, Alves H, Zhang G, Brown S, Muir KW, Dávalos A, Roos YBWEM, et al. Endovascular Treatment Effect Diminishes With Increasing Thrombus Perviousness: Pooled Data From 7 Trials on Acute Ischemic Stroke. Stroke. 2021.

In the context of large vessel occlusion stroke, a growing number of advanced imaging studies are showing us that no two occlusions are alike. The imaging features of a thrombus can provide critical information that can inform us about the effectiveness of a given therapy. For example, the INTERRSeCT study published in 2018 showed that distal thrombus location and increased thrombus permeability were associated with increased rates of spontaneous recanalization with IV thrombolysis.

In this study, Kappelhof and colleagues utilize data from the HERMES dataset to assess thrombus permeability and determine its effect on clinical outcomes in patients who received EVT compared to those who received thrombolysis alone. The authors refer to permeability as “thrombus perviousness” and measured this by co-registering non-contrast CT (NCCT) and single-phase CTA images together and measuring the attenuation increase between NCCT and CTA images (Figure 2). The primary clinical outcome of the study was an ordinal analysis of the mRS.

Elena Zapata-Arriaza, MD PhD
@ElenaZaps

Thirugnanachandran T, Beare R, Mitchell M, Wong C, Vuong J, Singhal S, Slater LA, Hilton J, Sinnott M, Srikanth V, et al. Anterior Cerebral Artery Stroke: Role of Collateral Systems on Infarct Topography. Stroke. 2021.

Anterior cerebral artery (ACA) stroke is less frequent when compared with middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion, and consequently, mechanical thrombectomies, perfusion studies, pial collateral system or clinical consequences based on the topography of the lesion are less known. With the aim of evaluating the role of the circle of Willis (CoW) and leptomeningeal anastomoses (LA) in modifying regional variation in infarct topography following occlusion of the anterior cerebral artery and its branches, Thirugnanachandran and colleagues employed voxel-based imaging in conjunction with computer model of cerebral circulation to understand the temporal and spatial evolution of the topography of ACA stroke following vessel occlusion. The experiments included occlusion of successive branches of the anterior cerebral artery while the configurations of the CoW were varied.

Tolga Daniel Dittrich, MD

García-Tornel Á, Campos D, Rubiera M, Boned S, Olivé-Gadea M, Requena M, Ciolli L, Muchada M, Pagola J, Rodriguez-Luna D, et al. Ischemic Core Overestimation on Computed Tomography Perfusion. Stroke. 2021.

Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) has become widely accepted as the imaging modality for the estimation of the infarct core and subsequent selection for endovascular treatment (EVT) in ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion (LVO), especially in the late time window. The radiological correlate for the core in CTP is usually the volume of tissue with a (compared with the contralateral hemisphere) reduction in cerebral blood flow (CBF) <30%. Overestimation of the core in CTP is thought to be time-dependent and may be a concern, especially with rapid imaging after symptom onset and fast reperfusion after imaging.

García-Tornel et al. addressed the question of the influence of time and collateral status on ischemic core overestimation. They retrospectively evaluated patients with anterior circulation LVO strokes with successful reperfusion after EVT. The core was considered to be the tissue with CBF <30% in CTP. Collateral status was assessed by the hypoperfusion intensity ratio (time to maximum of tissue residue function >6 seconds/time to maximum of tissue residue function >10 seconds). The reference for the final infarct volume was the non-contrast CT after 24 to 48 hours.

Wern Yew Ding, MBChB

Senadeera SC, Palmer DG, Keenan R, Beharry J, Yuh Lim J, Hurrell MA, Mouthaan P, Fink JN, Wilson D, Lim A, Wu TY. Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus Detected During Hyperacute Stroke Imaging Is Associated With Atrial Fibrillation. Stroke. 2020;51:3760–3764.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an established risk factor for thromboembolic events, including ischemic stroke. Therefore, identification of patients with this arrhythmia is important to facilitate the implementation of stroke prevention therapy using oral anticoagulation. Nonetheless, as a significant proportion of patients with AF remain asymptomatic, it remains largely under-diagnosed in the general population. Given that the source of emboli in the majority of AF-related strokes originates from the left atrial appendage (LAA), inclusion of this structure in imaging protocols may have a role in aiding the diagnosis of AF.

In a recent retrospective study of consecutive patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, Senadeera and colleagues investigated the prevalence of computed tomography angiography (CTA)-detected LAA thrombus during hyperacute stroke imaging and evaluated the association between LAA thrombus and AF. The imaging protocol consisted of non-contrast CT, followed by CT perfusion and CTA from aortic arch to vertex. Two experienced physicians and pre-defined measures were used to assess for LAA thrombus on these scans.

Elena Zapata-Arriaza, MD
@ElenaZaps

Al-Dasuqi K, Payabvash S, Torres-Flores GA, Strander SM, Nguyen CK, Peshwe KU, Kodali S, Silverman A, Malhotra A, Johnson MH, et al. Effects of Collateral Status on Infarct Distribution Following Endovascular Therapy in Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke. Stroke. 2020;51:e193–e202.

Collateral status has been related to impact on infarct size after ischemic stroke (IS) recanalization. However, the smaller final infarct size is not always related to a good clinical situation, which seems to be related to the eloquence of the affected area, rather than the volume of the ischemic area itself. The present scientific work aims to evaluate the relation between collateral status and reperfusion degree on final infarct distribution and clinical outcome after IS due to large vessel occlusion (LVO).

Al-Dasuqi and colleagues performed a single center retrospective analysis of all patients with LVO who were treated with endovascular treatment between 2013-2019. The authors collected clinical, demographic and radiological data. They applied a multivariate voxel-wise general linear model to correlate the distribution of final infarction with collateral status and degree of reperfusion. Early favorable outcome was defined as a discharge modified Rankin Scale score ≤2.