Short- and long- term outcomes of mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke patients with chronic kidney disease.

INTRODUCTION

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a risk factor of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Outcomes of treatment with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with CKD seem to be poorer than in the general population. Long‑term follow‑up studies are lacking.

OBJECTIVES

Our aim was to asses short- and long‑term outcomes (up to 365 days after stroke) in MT‑treated AIS patients with concomitant CKD.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The study included all AIS patients treated with MT at the Comprehensive Stroke Center in Kraków, Poland, from 2019 to 2021. The patients were divided into the CKD group (best glomerular filtration rate [GFR] during hospitalization <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 or diagnosed CKD) and the controls. In‑hospital, 90‑day, and 365‑day mortality and rate of good functional outcomes (defined as modified Rankin Scale ≤2) were compared between the CKD patients and controls as well as between patients with CKD stages 1-3 (GFR ≥30 ml/min/1.73 m2) and 4-5 (GFR <30 ml/min/1.73 m2). Factors associated with the abovementioned outcomes were identified using univariable logistic regression analyses and then added to multivariable analyses.

RESULTS

The CKD patients had higher 90- and 365‑day mortality and lower 90- and 365‑day good functional outcome rates than the controls. The patients with CKD stage 4-5 had significantly higher in‑hospital, 90‑day, and 365‑day mortality than the patients with CKD stage 1-3. Neither CKD nor its late stages (4-5) were independently associated with short- and long‑term mortality and functional outcomes of MT.

CONCLUSIONS

MT outcomes in CKD patients are worse, especially in advanced stages of the disease, but CKD is not independently associated with poor prognosis. CKD alone should not be a contraindication for MT in otherwise eligible patients, although patients with impaired kidney function require more careful postprocedural monitoring.