Normative distribution of posterior circulation tissue time-to-maximum: Effects of anatomic variation, tracer kinetics, and implications for patient selection in posterior circulation ischemic stroke
The generalization of perfusion-based, anterior circulation large vessel occlusion selection criteria to posterior circulation stroke is not straightforward due to physiologic delay, which we posit produces physiologic prolongation of the posterior circulation perfusion time-to-maximum (Tmax). To as...
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Published in | Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism Vol. 41; no. 8; pp. 1912 - 1923 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London, England
SAGE Publications
01.08.2021
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
ISSN | 0271-678X 1559-7016 1559-7016 |
DOI | 10.1177/0271678X20982395 |
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Summary: | The generalization of perfusion-based, anterior circulation large vessel occlusion selection criteria to posterior circulation stroke is not straightforward due to physiologic delay, which we posit produces physiologic prolongation of the posterior circulation perfusion time-to-maximum (Tmax). To assess normative Tmax distributions, patients undergoing CTA/CTP for suspected ischemic stroke between 1/2018-3/2019 were retrospectively identified. Subjects with any cerebrovascular stenoses, or with follow-up MRI or final clinical diagnosis of stroke were excluded. Posterior circulation anatomic variations were identified. CTP were processed in RAPID and segmented in a custom pipeline permitting manually-enforced arterial input function (AIF) and perfusion estimations constrained to pre-specified vascular territories. Seventy-one subjects (mean 64 ± 19 years) met inclusion. Median Tmax was significantly greater in the cerebellar hemispheres (right: 3.0 s, left: 2.9 s) and PCA territories (right: 2.9 s; left: 3.3 s) than in the anterior circulation (right: 2.4 s; left: 2.3 s, p < 0.001). Fetal PCA disposition eliminated ipsilateral PCA Tmax delays (p = 0.012). Median territorial Tmax was significantly lower with basilar versus any anterior circulation AIF for all vascular territories (p < 0.001). Significant baseline delays in posterior circulation Tmax are observed even without steno-occlusive disease and vary with anatomic variation and AIF selection. The potential for overestimation of at-risk volumes in the posterior circulation merits caution in future trials. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0271-678X 1559-7016 1559-7016 |
DOI: | 10.1177/0271678X20982395 |