Leukoaraiosis, intracerebral hemorrhage, and functional outcome after acute stroke thrombolysis

Journal article

To perform a systematic review and pooled meta-analysis of published studies to assess whether the presence of leukoaraiosis on neuroimaging before treatment with thrombolysis (IV or intra-arterial) is associated with an increased risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) or poor functional outcome.We included studies of patients with acute ischemic stroke, treated with IV or intra-arterial thrombolysis, which assessed functional outcome (3-month modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) or sICH in relation to leukoaraiosis on pretreatment neuroimaging (CT or MRI). We used random-effects models to calculate pooled relative risks (RR) of sICH and poor functional outcome (mRS ≥ 2) for any vs no leukoaraiosis (using any rating scale) and for no to mild vs moderate to severe leukoaraiosis (using the Van Swieten or Fazekas Schmidt scale).We identified 15 studies (total n = 6,967). For sICH outcome, the RR was 1.65 (n = 5,551; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26-2.16, p = 0.001) with an absolute risk (AR) increase of 2.5% for any leukoaraiosis vs none. The RR was 2.4 (n = 4,192; 95% CI 1.83-3.14, p = 0.001) with an AR increase of 6.2% for moderate to severe vs no to mild leukoaraiosis. For poor functional outcome; the RR was 1.30 (n = 3,401; 95% CI 1.19-1.42, p = 0.001) with an AR increase of 15.4% for any leukoaraiosis vs none. The RR was 1.31 (n = 3,659; 95% CI 1.22-1.42, p = 0.001) with an AR increase of 17.5% for moderate to severe vs no to mild leukoaraiosis. No statistical heterogeneity was noted for any of the analyses.Leukoaraiosis presence and severity are consistently associated with an increased risk of sICH and poor functional outcome after IV or intra-arterial thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke.

Authors: Kongbunkiat, K; Wilson, D; Kasemsap, N; Tiamkao, S; Jichi, F

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Journal: Neurology
• Volume: 88
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 638-645
• Publication date: 2017-01-27
• Acceptance date: 2016-09-27
• DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000003605
• EISSN: 1526-632X
• ISSN: 0028-3878
• Pmid: 28130468
• Language: English
• Keywords: leukoaraiosis; treatment outcome; thrombolytic therapy; stroke; cerebral hemorrhage; risk; prognosis; brain ischemia