Aim of the study: We investigated whether the time elapsed between stroke onset and groin puncture (SO-GP) affects the rate of recanalisation as measured by the Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) scale.
Clinical rationale for the study: There is no doubt that the effectiveness of thrombolysis in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) is time-dependent. There is growing evidence that there is a correlation between SO-GP time and rate of recanalisation in patients treated by mechanical thrombectomy (MT).
Materials and methods: This study was performed in patients treated in the Comprehensive Stroke Centre in Krakow that covers 3.5 million inhabitants. The following data was collected for this study: demographics, stroke risk factors, transportation (directly from home or via another hospital), admission NIHSS, IV rt-PA administration prior to MT, the number of passes used during MT, and SO-GP time. The favourable outcome measure was TICI 2b or 3.
Results: 223 patients (48.4% females; mean age: 66.0 ± 16.6 years) with anterior circulation strokes were treated by MT; 64.6% arrived directly from home. Mean admission NIHSS was 15.6 ± 5.3. IV rtPA was administered in 68.6% of patients. At least two thrombectomy passes were required in 20.6% of cases. Median SO-GP time was 240 minutes (IQR range: 180-305 minutes). Grade 3 or 2b TICI scores were obtained in 70.4% of patients. Univariate logistic regression showed that among all studied parameters, only NIHSS affected the rate of recanalisation, but in a multivariate logistic regression model, the only parameter that affected the rate of recanalisation was the SO-GP time (OR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60-0.98, p = 0.03).
Conclusions and clinical implications: We suggest that SO-GP time affects the rate of recanalisation in patients with MT.
Keywords: groin puncture; ischaemic stroke; recanalisation; stroke; thrombectomy; time.