Stent Retriever-Based Thrombectomy in Octogenarians

Background And Aims: Stent retriever-based thrombectomy (SRT) may be beneficial in patients with large hemispheric stroke. Previous studies concluded that favorable outcomes are far less frequent after endovascular therapy in older patients but have not explored outcomes in the era of newer-generation stent retrievers.

Materials And Methods: Consecutive patients with large hemispheric stroke treated with SRT were included. We compared neurological and functional outcomes between patients younger and older than 80.

Results: We included 16 patients older than 80 (22.5%, mean age 84.1 ± 4.4, 56% females) and compared them to 55 patients that were younger than 80 (77.5%, mean age 63.1 ± 12.5, 51% females). Risk factor profile, admission neurological severity, stroke etiology and procedure-related variables including excellent target vessel recanalization did not differ between the groups. Favorable outcome at 90 days (modified Rankin score ≤2) was more common in younger patients (77 vs. 23%; p = 0.031). In contrast, mortality rates were higher in octogenarians (40 vs. 7%; p = 0.01). Logistic regression analysis adjusting for neurological severity and collateral state identified age over 80 (odds ratio, OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.03-0.75; p = 0.02) and reperfusion state (OR 7.4, 95% CI 1.1-49.9; p = 0.04) as significant modifiers of favorable outcome. Similarly, age over 80 was identified as a positive predictor of mortality (OR 8.1, 95% CI 1.8-36.7; p = 0.007).

Conclusions: Octogenarians have higher chances of mortality and lower probability of achieving functional independence even after SRT. Nevertheless, because some elderly patients do achieve favorable outcomes, the cost-effectiveness of SRT in this population needs to be further studied.