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Reperfusion Injury After Endovascular Stroke Treatment

Recruiting
Conditions
Ischemic Stroke
Interventions
Diagnostic Test: Transcranial Duplex Sonography
Diagnostic Test: Brain MRI
Diagnostic Test: Blood biomarkers
Registration Number
NCT05273216
Lead Sponsor
Medical University of Graz
Brief Summary

Endovascular stroke treatment with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has become the standard therapy for intracranial large vessel occlusion (LVO). The most serious MT-related complication is secondary intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) occurring in 20-25%. Post- recanalization hyperperfusion might be an important risk factor/mechanism of MT-related ICH. In pilot studies, bedside transcranial Duplex sonography (TCD) was identified as a promising screening tool for cerebral hyperperfusion predicting ICH - the hallmark feature of reperfusion injury.

There is an unmet need to identify risk factors for ICH after MT as it relates to poor prognosis, no proven treatment is available, and it delays/prohibits usage of anticoagulants/-thrombotics necessary for preventing recurrent stroke.

Main objectives:

To explore the range and clinical impact of hemodynamic changes after MT as detected on bedside TCD.

To assess whether patients with increased blood flow velocity in the recanalized middle cerebral artery (MCA) are at a higher risk to develop ICH / vasogenic brain edema (reperfusion injury) after MT.

To investigate if the underlying mechanism is cerebral hyperperfusion (confirmed by perfusion MRI).

To additionally study the role of blood biomarkers of blood-brain-barrier / endothelial dysfunction and neuroaxonal damage on reperfusion injury and short-term prognosis.

Approach / methods:

Prospective, longitudinal Austrian multicentre study conducted at three high-volume stroke centers (Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg). The investigators will recruit consecutive stroke patients with anterior circulation L VO treated by MT. Immediately after MT, experienced sonographers will perform bedside TCD to determine MCA blood flow status, which will be repeated after 24-48h and on day 7. On day one after MT, brain MRI with perfusion serves to assess infarct size, secondary ICH, (vasogenic) brain edema and perfusion status. MRI will be centrally analyzed in the neuroimaging lab of Graz, blinded to clinical, laboratory and sonographic information. Blood samples for the analysis of biomarkers of endothelial (blood-brain barrier) dysfunction and neuroaxonal damage (neurofilament light) will be taken on day one and at three months post-MT. Neurological outcome will be rated according to the modified Rankin Scale at three months post-stroke.

Detailed Description

Endovascular stroke treatment with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has become the standard therapy for intracranial large vessel occlusion (LVO). The most serious MT-related complication is secondary intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) occurring in 20-25%. Post- recanalization hyperperfusion might be an important risk factor/mechanism of MT-related ICH. In pilot studies, bedside transcranial Duplex sonography (TCD) was identified as a promising screening tool for cerebral hyperperfusion predicting ICH - the hallmark feature of reperfusion injury.

There is an unmet need to identify risk factors for ICH after MT as it relates to poor prognosis, no proven treatment is available, and it delays/prohibits usage of anticoagulants/-thrombotics necessary for preventing recurrent stroke.

Main objectives:

To explore the range and clinical impact of hemodynamic changes after MT as detected on bedside TCD.

To assess whether patients with increased blood flow velocity in the recanalized middle cerebral artery (MCA) are at a higher risk to develop ICH / vasogenic brain edema (reperfusion injury) after MT.

To investigate if the underlying mechanism is cerebral hyperperfusion (confirmed by perfusion MRI).

To additionally study the role of blood biomarkers of blood-brain-barrier / endothelial dysfunction and neuroaxonal damage on reperfusion injury and short-term prognosis.

Approach / methods:

Prospective, longitudinal Austrian multicentre study conducted at three high-volume stroke centers (Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg). The investigators will recruit consecutive stroke patients with anterior circulation L VO treated by MT. Immediately after MT, experienced sonographers will perform bedside TCD to determine MCA blood flow status, which will be repeated after 24-48h and on day 7. On day one after MT, brain MRI with perfusion serves to assess infarct size, secondary ICH, (vasogenic) brain edema and perfusion status. MRI will be centrally analyzed in the neuroimaging lab of Graz, blinded to clinical, laboratory and sonographic information. Blood samples for the analysis of biomarkers of endothelial (blood-brain barrier) dysfunction and neuroaxonal damage (neurofilament light) will be taken on day one and at three months post-MT. Neurological outcome will be rated according to the modified Rankin Scale at three months post-stroke.

Level of originality:

Human studies on reperfusion injury after MT are lacking. If the investigator's hypothesis would hold true and the investigators could show that cerebral hemodynamic changes after MT would increase the risk for post-interventional intracranial bleeding complications and poor outcome, the investigators would provide an easy-available, repeatable bedside screening and monitoring tool (TCD), which has the potential to guide individualized patient treatment in the early postinterventional period after MT.

The study was registered on Clinicaltrials.gov after start of recruitment.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
600
Inclusion Criteria
  • stroke due to large vessel occlusion of the anterior cerebral circulation (internal carotid artery, middle cerebral artery) receiving mechanical thrombectomy.
Exclusion Criteria
  • basilar artery occlusion
  • age below 18 years

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Observational Study (no different study arms)Blood biomarkersProspective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study to investigate hemodynamic changes (by TCD and perfusion MRI) and blood biomarkers as predictors of reperfusion injury / intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombectomy of the anterior cerebral circulation
Observational Study (no different study arms)Transcranial Duplex SonographyProspective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study to investigate hemodynamic changes (by TCD and perfusion MRI) and blood biomarkers as predictors of reperfusion injury / intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombectomy of the anterior cerebral circulation
Observational Study (no different study arms)Brain MRIProspective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study to investigate hemodynamic changes (by TCD and perfusion MRI) and blood biomarkers as predictors of reperfusion injury / intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombectomy of the anterior cerebral circulation
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Rate of intracranial hemorrhageDay one after mechanical thrombectomy

Rate of intracranial hemorrhage (indicator of reperfusion injury) on neuroimaging at day one after mechanical thrombectomy.

Rate of (vasogenic) brain edemaDay one after mechanical thrombectomy

Rate of (vasogenic) brain edema (indicator of reperfusion injury) on neuroimaging at day one after mechanical thrombectomy.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Inhospital mortalityMedian inhospital stay of 7 days

Early inhospital mortality

Change of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhageImmediately, 24-48 hours and 7 days post-thrombectomy.

Rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage post-thrombectomy.

Change of functional neurological outcomeHospital discharge (median of 7 days) and after 3 months poststroke

Functional neurological outcome (according to the modified Rankin Scale with score of 0-6; higher scores indicating more severe disability) including mortality at three months post-stroke.

Cerebral blood flow changes on TCDImmediately, 24-48 hours and 7 days post-thrombectomy, and after 3 months poststroke

The range of cerebral blood flow changes on TCD and its correlation with perfusion MRI.

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

Medical Univerity of Graz, Department of Neurology

🇦🇹

Graz, Styria, Austria

Paracelsus Medical University, Department of Neurology

🇦🇹

Salzburg, Austria

Medical University of Innsbruck, Department of Neurology

🇦🇹

Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria

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