Objectives: Acute ischemic stroke patients are at risk of acute kidney injury due to volume depletion, contrast exposure, and preexisting comorbid diseases. We determined the occurrence rate and identified predictors associated with acute kidney injury in acute ischemic stroke patients. Setting: Multiple specialized ICUs within academic medical centers. Design: Post hoc analysis of pooled data from prospective randomized clinical trials. Patients: Acute ischemic stroke patients recruited within 3 hours or within 5 hours of symptom onset. Interventions: IV recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, endovascular treatment, IV albumin, or placebo. Measurements and Main Results: Serum creatinine levels from baseline and within day 5 or discharge were used to classify acute kidney injury classification into stages. Any increase in serum creatinine was seen in 697 (36.1%) and acute kidney injury was seen in 68 (3.5%) of 1,931 patients with acute ischemic stroke. Severity of acute kidney injury was grade I, II, and III in 3.1%, 0.4%, and 0.05% patients, respectively. Patients with albumin (5.5% compared with 2.6%; p = 0.001), preexisting hypertension (4.3% compared with 1.5%; p = 0.0041), and preexisting renal disease (9.1% compared with 3.0%; p < 0.0001) had higher risk of acute kidney injury. The risk of acute kidney injury was lower between those who either underwent CT angiography (2.0% compared with 4.7%; p = 0.0017) or endovascular treatment (1.6% compared with 4.2%; p = 0.0071). In the multivariate analysis, hypertension (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.2–5.6) and renal disease (odds ratio, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.9–6.5) were associated with acute kidney injury. The risk of death was significantly higher among patients with acute kidney injury (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.4–4.9) after adjusting for age and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score strata. Conclusions: The occurrence rate of acute kidney injury in acute ischemic stroke patients was low and was not higher in patients who underwent CT angiogram or those who received endovascular treatment. Occurrence of acute kidney injury increased the risk of death within 3 months among acute ischemic stroke patients.

Introduction: Several studies have shown improved outcomes in ischemic stroke patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy in clinical trials after introduction of stent retrievers. The outcomes of patients undergoing endovascular treatment in general practice are expected to improve. We performed this analysis to evaluate trends in utilization of endovascular treatment in acute ischemic stroke and associated rates of death and disability in real world practice. Methods: We obtained data for patients admitted with primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke in United States from 2009-2016 using Nationwide Inpatient Sample. We determined the rate and pattern of utilization, and associated in-hospital outcomes of endovascular treatment among them. Outcomes were classified as minimal disability, moderate to severe disability, and death based on discharge disposition and compared between two time periods: 2009-2011 and 2013-2016 to represent pre and post stent retriever approvals in United States. Results: Of the 3,780,955 patients admitted with ischemic stroke, 244,092 (6.46%) received intravenous thrombolytic treatment, and 48,409 (1.28%) underwent endovascular treatment. There was a fourfold increase in patients who underwent endovascular treatment (0.55% of ischemic strokes in 2009 vs. 2.03% in 2016, trend p < 0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, gender, thrombolytic therapy, in hospital complications including secondary intracranial hemorrhages, the rate of none to minimal disability improved between the two study intervals (2009-2011 versus 2013-2016), odds ratio (OR) 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.47-2.67, p=<0.0001) and moderate to severe disability decreased (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.45- 0.70, p= <0.0001). There was significant decrease inpatient mortality for patients treated during 2013-2016; OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.56- 0.79, p= <0.0001). Conclusion: There has been a significant increase in the proportion of acute ischemic stroke patients receiving endovascular treatment with improvement of outcomes. Our analysis support generalizability of the successful results observed in clinical trials of endovascular treatment in the post-stent retriever approval era in United States.