TY - JOUR T1 - Leukoaraiosis Predicts a Poor 90-Day Outcome after Endovascular Stroke Therapy JF - American Journal of Neuroradiology JO - Am. J. Neuroradiol. SP - 2070 LP - 2075 DO - 10.3174/ajnr.A4029 VL - 35 IS - 11 AU - J. Zhang AU - A.S. Puri AU - M.A. Khan AU - R.P. Goddeau, Jr AU - N. Henninger Y1 - 2014/11/01 UR - http://www.ajnr.org/content/35/11/2070.abstract N2 - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Leukoaraiosis is a common finding among patients with ischemic stroke and has been associated with poor stroke outcomes. Our aim was to ascertain whether the severity of pre-existing leukoaraiosis is associated with outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke who are treated with endovascular stroke therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from 129 consecutive, prospectively enrolled patients with stroke undergoing endovascular stroke therapy at a single tertiary care center between January 2006 and August 2013. Leukoaraiosis was assessed as supratentorial white matter hypoattenuation on admission head CT and graded as 0–2 (absent-to-moderate) versus 3–4 (severe) according to the van Swieten scale. We dichotomized the 90-day mRS into good (0–2 or return to baseline) versus poor (3–6) as the primary study outcome. Incremental multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors of a poor 90-day outcome. RESULTS: In all multivariable models, severe leukoaraiosis was independently (P < .05) associated with a poor outcome at 90 days (fully adjusted model: OR, 6.37; 95% CI, 1.83–12.18; P = .004). The independent association between leukoaraiosis and a poor outcome remained when the analysis was restricted to patients who were alive at discharge (n = 87, P < .05). Last, among patients who were alive at discharge, those with severe leukoaraiosis had significantly less frequent improvement on the mRS from discharge to 90 days compared with patients with absent-to-moderate leukoaraiosis (P = .034). CONCLUSIONS: The severity of pre-existing leukoaraiosis is independently associated with 90-day functional outcome in patients with stroke who underwent endovascular stroke therapy. These results highlight the need to further explore leukoaraiosis as a promising surrogate marker for poor outcome after endovascular stroke therapy to improve risk assessment, patient selection, and early prognostic accuracy. ESTendovascular stroke therapy ER -