Clinical and radiological factors predict unexplained early neurological deterioration after intravenous thrombolysis in patients with acute middle cerebral artery stroke

Abstract

Background Some patients with acute middle cerebral artery stroke (MCA-stroke) cannot benefit from thrombolysis and develop early neurological deterioration (END) within 24 hours. Except for several defenitive causes such as symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage, malignant edema, and early recurrent stroke, no definitive mechanism (unexplained END) account for majority of END cases deserving our attention. Methods We retrospectively collected 142 MCA-stroke patients who had pretreatment multimodal CT including non-contrast CT (NCCT), CT angiography (CTA) and CT perfusion (CTP) and received intravenous thrombolytic therapy within 4.5h of onset and. Unexplained END was denited as NIHSS scores increased from baseline within 24 hours after thrombolysis ≥ 4 points or death without definite causes. The clinical and imaging data based on multimodal CT were compared between unexplained END and no END through univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Results The prevalence of unexplained END (24 patients, 16.9%) outnumbered the prevalence of END due to other causes. Univariate analysis showed that higher admission glucose (P= 0.039), lower initial NIHSS score (P=0.026), lower r-LMC score (P= 0.003), proximal occlusion (P=0.003) and large penumbra volume(P<0.001) were more frequently observed in patients with unexplained END; In multivariate analysis, lower NIHSS score (OR=1.19; 95% CI, 1.07-1.32; P=0.001), proximal occlusion (OR=0.32; 95% CI, 0.06-0.92; P=0.038), lower r-LMC score (OR=1.17; 95% CI, 1.02-1.35; P=0.028) and larger penumbra volume (OR=0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99; P=0.003) were associated with unexplained END. Conclusion Lower NIHSS score, proximal occlusion, lower r-LMC score and larger penumbra volume can predict unexplained END in the hyperacute phase of MCA-stroke and contribute to develop treatment strategies.