BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is reported to mediate blood-brain barrier integrity after ischaemic stroke. Our purpose was to assess the role of circulating Cav-1 levels in predicting symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (sICH) amongst ischaemic stroke patients after endovascular thrombectomy (EVT).

METHODS

Patients with large-vessel occlusive stroke after EVT from two stroke centres were prospectively included. Serum Cav-1 level was tested after admission. sICH was diagnosed according to the Heidelberg Bleeding Classification.

RESULTS

Of 325 patients (mean age 68.6 years; 207 men) included, 47 (14.5%) were diagnosed with sICH. Compared with patients without sICH, those with sICH had a lower concentration of Cav-1. After adjusting for potential confounders, multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that the increased Cav-1 level was associated with a lower sICH risk (odds ratio 0.055; 95% confidence interval 0.005-0.669; p = 0.038). Similar results were obtained when Cav-1 levels were analysed as a categorical variable. Using a logistic regression model with restricted cubic splines, a linear and negative association of Cav-1 concentration was found with sICH risk (p = 0.001 for linearity). Furthermore, the performance of the conventional risk factors model in predicting sICH was substantially improved after addition of the Cav-1 levels (integrated discrimination index 2.7%, p = 0.002; net reclassification improvement 39.7%, p = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data demonstrate that decreased Cav-1 levels are related to sICH after EVT. Incorporation of Cav-1 into clinical decision-making may help to identify patients at a high risk of sICH and warrants further consideration.