Predictors for the Extent of Pial Collateral Recruitment in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: Pial arterioles can provide a variable degree of collateral flow to ischemic vascular territories during acute ischemic stroke. This study sought to identify predictive factors of the degree of pial collateral recruitment in acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: Clinical information and arteriograms from 62 consecutive patients with stroke due to either middle cerebral artery (MCA) M1 segment or internal carotid artery (ICA) terminus occlusion within 6 h following symptom onset were retrospectively reviewed. Pial collaterals were defined based on the extent of reconstitution of the MCA territory. Patients with slow antegrade flow distal to the occlusion site were excluded and no anesthetics were used prior or during angiography. Results were analyzed using multivariate nominal logistic regression.

Results: Better pial collateral recruitment was associated with proximal MCA versus ICA terminus occlusion ( = 0.005; odds ratio (OR) = 9.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.16-53.3), lower presenting National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale Score (NIHSSS) ( = 0.023; OR = 6.51; 95% CI, 1.49-41.7), and lower diastolic blood pressure ( = 0.0411; OR = 5.05; 95% CI, 1.20-29.2). Age, gender, symptom duration, diabetes, laterality, systolic blood pressure, glucose level, hematocrit, platelet level, and white blood cell count at presentation were not found to have a statistically significant association with pial collateral recruitment.

Conclusions: Extent of pial collateral recruitment is strongly associated with the occlusion site (MCA M1 segment versus ICA terminus) and less strongly associated with presenting NIHSSS and diastolic blood pressure.