Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients based on stroke severity and infarct core volume.
| Variablea | Lower NIHSS & smaller core (n = 139) | Higher NIHSS & larger core (n = 106) | Higher NIHSS & smaller core (n = 130) | Lower NIHSS & larger core (n = 80) | p valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median (IQR), yr | 66 (59–71) | 69 (61–74) | 70 (63–75) | 67 (58–72) | 0.01 |
| Sex | 0.01 | ||||
| Male | 89 (64.0) | 53 (50.0) | 78 (60.0) | 59 (73.8) | |
| Female | 50 (36.0) | 53 (50.0) | 52 (40.0) | 21 (26.2) | |
| Baseline NIHSS, median (IQR) | 13 (11–14) | 20 (17–22) | 19 (17–21) | 12 (10–14) | <0.001 |
| Medical history | |||||
| Hypertension | 75 (54.0) | 67 (63.2) | 85 (65.4) | 45 (56.3) | 0.20 |
| Diabetes | 19 (13.7) | 27 (25.5) | 24 (18.5) | 13 (16.3) | 0.12 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 7 (5.0) | 6 (5.7) | 8 (6.2) | 5 (6.3) | 0.98 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 25 (18.0) | 28 (26.4) | 36 (27.7) | 15 (18.8) | 0.16 |
| Stroke | 23 (16.6) | 13 (12.3) | 24 (18.5) | 13 (16.3) | 0.63 |
| Current smoking | 43 (30.9) | 32 (30.2) | 34 (26.2) | 35 (43.8) | 0.06 |
| Systolic blood pressure, median (IQR), mmHg | 147 (133–163) | 154 (132–170) | 151 (131–168) | 148 (130–164) | 0.55 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, median (IQR), mmHg | 85 (76–97) | 87 (76–97) | 85 (76–98) | 83 (75–89) | 0.26 |
| Laboratory tests | |||||
| Blood glucose, median (IQR), mmol/L | 6.9 (5.8–8.3) | 7.8 (6.4–9.7) | 7.0 (6.2–9.1) | 7.0 (5.9–8.3) | 0.05 |
| Creatinine, median (IQR), umol/L | 65.0 (53.0–83.4) | 69.0 (55.0–79.7) | 70.2 (59.1–85.0) | 67.0 (57.8–84.1) | 0.44 |
| ASPECTS based on CT, median (IQR) | 4 (3–5) | 3 (1–4) | 3 (3–4) | 3 (2–4) | <0.001 |
| 0 | 0 (0.0) | 6 (5.7) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (2.5) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 1 (0.7) | 21 (19.8) | 1 (0.8) | 10 (12.5) | |
| 2 | 0 (0.0) | 10 (9.4) | 0 (0.0) | 11 (13.8) | |
| 3 | 63 (45.3) | 41 (38.7) | 68 (52.3) | 26 (32.5) | |
| 4 | 37 (26.6) | 21 (19.8) | 31 (23.9) | 22 (27.5) | |
| 5 | 38 (27.3) | 7 (6.6) | 30 (23.1) | 9 (11.3) | |
| Hemisphere affected | <0.001 | ||||
| Left | 35 (25.2) | 71 (67.0) | 88 (67.7) | 16 (20.0) | |
| Right | 104 (74.8) | 35 (33.0) | 42 (32.3) | 64 (80.0) | |
| Occlusion site | 0.02 | ||||
| ICA | 34 (24.5) | 45 (42.5) | 50 (38.5) | 35 (43.8) | |
| MCA-M1 | 102 (73.4) | 61 (57.6) | 79 (60.8) | 45 (56.3) | |
| MCA-M2 | 3 (2.2) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.8) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Stroke etiology | 0.04 | ||||
| Atherosclerosis | 37 (26.6) | 20 (18.9) | 34 (26.2) | 22 (27.5) | |
| Cardioembolic | 55 (39.6) | 56 (52.8) | 69 (53.1) | 29 (36.3) | |
| Others | 47 (33.8) | 30 (28.3) | 27 (20.8) | 29 (36.3) | |
| Infarct core volume, median (IQR), mL | 32 (11–55) | 95 (79–118) | 42 (17–56) | 90 (78–120) | <0.001 |
| Critically hypoperfused (Tmax > 6s) volume, median (IQR), mL | 162 (108–193) | 199 (165–257) | 158 (121–216) | 208 (166–247) | <0.001 |
| Critically hypoperfused to infarct core ratio ≥1.8 and penumbra volume ≥15 mL | 122 (91.7) | 60 (61.9) | 115 (91.3) | 49 (70.0) | <0.001 |
| Intravenous thrombolysis | 39 (28.1) | 28 (26.4) | 38 (29.2) | 24 (30.0) | 0.95 |
| Wake-up stroke | 47 (33.8) | 31 (29.3) | 48 (36.9) | 21 (26.3) | 0.36 |
| Onset-to-door time, median (IQR), min | 399 (209–707) | 325 (199–630) | 350 (190–559) | 311 (163–575) | 0.31 |
| Onset-to-imaging time, median (IQR), min | 466 (288–769) | 373 (236–720) | 410 (233–659) | 366 (218–655) | 0.17 |
| Onset-to-randomization time, median (IQR), min | 507 (337–803) | 427 (283–760) | 459 (293–708) | 413 (259–698) | 0.18 |
| Onset-to-puncture time, median (IQR), min | 616 (372–836) | 454 (325–735) | 428 (314–660) | 464 (297–699) | 0.13 |
| Onset-to-reperfusion time, median (IQR), min | 729 (431–956) | 531 (392–797) | 511 (409–704) | 572 (408–852) | 0.09 |
| Treatment | 0.41 | ||||
| MM | 69 (49.6) | 50 (47.2) | 60 (46.2) | 46 (57.5) | |
| EVT | 70 (50.4) | 56 (52.8) | 70 (53.9) | 34 (42.5) | |
| Successful reperfusion | 25 (35.7) | 18 (32.1) | 30 (45.5) | 12 (37.5) | 0.47 |
| Rescue therapy | 16 (22.9) | 6 (10.7) | 8 (11.9) | 4 (12.5) | 0.19 |
NIHSS indicates National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; IQR, interquartile range; ASPECTS, Alberta Stroke Program Early Compute Tomography Score; CT, Compute Tomography; ICA, internal carotid artery; MCA-M1, middle cerebral artery M1 segment; MCA-M2, middle cerebral artery M2 segment; MM, medical management; EVT, endovascular therapy.
a
Values are medians (interquartile range) or numbers (%).
b
p value < 0.0125 was considered of statistical significance.