Mission thrombectomy 2020 (MT2020+) surveys of Caribbean stroke services: A call for action in our region

Initiation of mechanical thrombectomy in an insular setting with helicopter transfer: a 2-year experience from the first, complete, tertiary stroke center in the Caribbean

BACKGROUND

This is the first cohort study of patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for acute ischemic stroke in the French West Indies, with a mothership center and helicopter transfer.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the population and to evaluate imaging, clinical, and time metric outcomes, in order to assess the feasibility and adjust the territorial organization.

METHODS

In this observational study, we retrospectively analyzed our prospectively collected data of a population of consecutive patients treated with MT for anterior and posterior circulation large vessel occlusions. Primary outcome was 3-month functional independence (modified Rankin Scale score ≤2). Secondary outcomes included aerial and terrestrial times of arrival, in-hospital delays, demographics, imaging and clinical data at onset, discharge, and at 3 months. We compared the results of the mothership and drip-and-ship paradigms.

RESULTS

Between January 2020 and December 2021, 223 patients were included (74% mothership, 26% drip-and-ship). Mean National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of the population was 16 before MT, with significant reduction (NIHSS score 6) at discharge (9 mothership, 12 drip-and-ship, P=0.025). There was significant difference in onset-to-operation room times among the two centers (335 min mothership, 500 min drip-and-ship, P=0.004). Successful recanalization (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score 2b-3) was 80.3%. Functional independence at 3 months was 35%, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was 11%, and the complication rate was 9.4%, all without statistically significant difference between the two groups.

CONCLUSION

The population has distinct risk factors. MT with helicopter transfer is feasible in the French West Indies. Reduction of prehospital and in-hospital times is mandatory; evaluation of the territorial strategy is underway, to avoid over-selection of transferred patients.

Mechanical Thrombectomy Workshops Improve Procedural Knowledge and Skills Among Neurointerventional Teams in Low- to Middle-Income Countries

BACKGROUND

While mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is proven to be lifesaving and disability sparing, there remains a disparity in its access in low- to middle-income countries. We hypothesized that team-based MT workshops would improve MT knowledge and skills.

METHODS

We designed a 22-hour MT workshop, conducted as 2 identical events: in English (Jamaica, January 2022) and in Spanish (Dominican Republic, May 2022). The workshops included participating neurointerventional teams (practicing neurointerventionalists, neurointerventional nurses, and technicians) focused on acute stroke due to large vessel occlusion. The course faculty led didactic and hands-on components, covering topics from case selection and postoperative management to device technology and MT surgical techniques. Attendees were evaluated on stroke knowledge and MT skills before and after the course using a multiple choice exam and simulated procedures utilizing flow models under fluoroscopy, respectively. Press conferences for public education with invited government officials were included to raise stroke awareness.

RESULTS

Twenty-two physicians and their teams from 8 countries across the Caribbean completed the didactic and hands-on training. Overall test scores (n=18) improved from 67% to 85% (P<0.002). Precourse and postcourse hands-on assessments demonstrated reduced time to completion from 36.5 to 21.1 minutes (P<0.001). All teams showed an improvement in measures of good MT techniques, with 39% improvement in complete reperfusion. Eight teams achieved a Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score of 3 on pre-course versus 15 of 18 teams on post-course. There was a significant reduction in total potentially dangerous maneuvers (70% pre versus 20% post; P<0.002). Universally, the workshop was rated as satisfactory and likely to change practice in 93% Dominican Republic and 75% Jamaica.

CONCLUSIONS

A team-based hands-on simulation approach to MT training is novel, feasible, and effective in improving procedural skills. Participants viewed these workshops as practice-changing and instrumental in creating a pathway for increasing access to MT in low- to middle-income countries.

Microsurgical thrombectomy: where the ancient art meets the new era

Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is the leading treatment for acute large vessel occlusion (LVO). However, surgical thrombectomy (ST) may have a role in well selected LVO patients where MT failed to re-establish flow, the endovascular route is inaccessible, or where MT is a financially prohibitive or absent option (developing and poor countries). We compared the efficacy and efficiency between ST and MT, and described our operative experience and its potential application in the developing world. Clinical outcomes, procedural times, and efficacy of treatment were compared between the MT and ST of acute LVO between 2012 and 2022. Propensity score-matched analysis was also conducted to compare MT and ST. One-hundred nine patients fulfilled the study criteria (77 MTs vs 32 STs). Factors driving outcome were age (aOR: 0.95, 95%CI, 0.91-0.98), hemisphere side (aOR: 0.38, 95%CI, 0.15-0.96), and DWI-ASPECT (aOR: 1.39, 95%CI, 1.09-1.77) at presentation by the multivariate analysis. Times from door-start of procedure (P = 0.45) and start of procedure-recanalization (P = 0.13) were similar between treatment options. Propensity score-matched analysis found no significant difference for 2 treatment methods about time of door to recanalization (P = 0.155) and outcome (P = 0.221). The prognosticators of thrombectomy for acute LVO in patients with successful recanalization were age, affected hemisphere side, and DWI-ASPECT score. Our evidence shows that the efficacy of ST is similar to that of MT. There should be a place of ST for cases of mechanical failure or tandem cervical ICA and MCA occlusion. ST may be a temporizing LVO treatment option in healthcare systems where MT is inexistent or financially prohibitive to patients.