Impact of dementia status on intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke: Retrospective study

Introduction: Individuals with dementia are underrepresented in interventional studies for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). This research gap creates a bias against their treatment in clinical practice. Our goal was to compare the safety and efficacy of intravenous-thrombolysis (t-PA) and endovascular treatment (EVT) in individuals with or without pre-AIS dementia.

Method: A retrospective study of AIS patients receiving t-PA or EVT between 2019 and 2022. Patients were classified as dementia on a case-by-case review of baseline assessment. Additional variables included demographic, vascular risk factors, AIS severity and treatment. Outcomes of interest were intracerebral hemorrhage, mortality in 90-days, and the difference in modified rankin scale (mRS) before AIS and in 90-days follow-up. Outcomes were compared across non-matched groups and following propensity-score matching.

Results: Altogether, 628 patients were included, of which 68 had pre-AIS dementia. Compared to non-dementia group, dementia group were older, had a higher rate of vascular risk factors, higher pre-stroke mRS and higher baseline NIHSS. Individuals with dementia had higher rates of mortality (25% vs.11%,p < 0.01) on non-matched comparison. All cohort and restricted t-PA EVT matched analysis showed no difference in any outcome. Regression analysis confirmed that AIS severity at presentation and its treatment, not dementia, were the chief contributors to patients' outcomes.

Discussion: Our results indicate that pre-AIS dementia does not impact the efficacy or safety of EVT or t-PA for AIS. We thus call for more inclusive research on stroke therapy with regards to baseline cognitive status. Such studies are urgently required to inform stroke guidelines and enhance care.