Background:
Women have been shown to have greater disability than men after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) treated by thrombolysis. Whether endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) outcomes differ by sex with AIS from large vessel occlusion (LVO) is controversial. We compared sex differences in EVT outcomes and assessed relationship to post-discharge improvement.
Methods:
In SELECT prospective cohort, EVT treated anterior circulation LVOs (ICA, MCA M1/M2) ≤24 hrs from LKW were stratified by sex. Discharge, 90-day mRS were compared in all patients and a propensity matched cohort. We evaluated mRS improvement (discharge to 90-day) using repeated measure mixed regression with linear approximation of mRS.
Results:
Of 285 patients, 139 (48.8%) were women, and older (mean IQR 69 years (57,81) vs 65 (56,75), p=0.04) with similar NIHSS (17 (11,22) vs 16 (12,20), p=0.44). Women had smaller perfusion lesion 109 (66,151) vs 154 (104,198) cc, p<0.001) and better collaterals on CTA/CTP but similar ischemic core size 8 (0,25) vs 11 (0,38) cc, p=0.22. Discharge functional independence rates, mean (IQR) mRS were similar (women 39% vs men 46%, p=0.14, and mRS: 3 vs 3, p=0.43). 90-day mRS 0-2 did not differ between women and men (50% vs 55%, aOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.39-1.50, p=0.39) and mean (IQR) mRS: 2 (1,4) vs 2 (0,4). Larger predicted mRS score improvement trend seen in men (2.62 vs 2.21, reduction 0.41) than women (2.65 vs 2.46, reduction: 0.19, p=0.21), Fig 2A. In propensity matched 65 pairs, women exhibited worse 90-day mRS 0-2 (46% vs 60%, aOR 0.41, 95% CI 0.16-1.00, p=0.05). mRS improvement from discharge to 90-day was significantly larger in men (2.49 vs 1.88, reduction 0.61 vs women 2.52 vs 2.44, reduction 0.08, p=0.04), despite similar discharge disposition Fig 2B.
Conclusion:
Women had similar discharge outcomes as men following EVT, but improvement at 90 days was significantly worse in women. Further exploration of the influence of post-discharge factors to identify target interventions is warranted.
