Outcomes of Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke Following Cardiac Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this study is to pool the evidence on the safety and efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients who develop acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to large vessel occlusion (LVO) following recent cardiac interventions.

PubMed, Embase and Scopus were searched from inception up to February 2024 using a combination of “cardiac interventions” and “mechanical thrombectomy” as keywords. Studies that evaluated AIS within 30 days of a recent cardiac intervention who underwent MT were included. The proportion of mortality, favorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0–2), successful reperfusion (TICI ≥ 2b or TIMI ≥ 2) and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) were pooled using generalized linear mixed model.

Thirty-one case reports/series and 11 observational studies including 195 MT procedures were included. The patients’ mean age was 72 years. The most common cardiac intervention associated with AIS was transcatheter aortic valve replacement/implantation in 96/192 cases (50%). The median onset of stoke was 0 (IQR 0–3) days after cardiac intervention. Rate of successful reperfusion was 79.4% [95%confidence interval (CI) 66.7–88.1%], rate of mRS 0–2 after 90 days was 42.7% [95%CI 32.5–53.6%], and rate of mortality at 90 days was 30.3% [95%CI 21.7–40.6%]. The rate of sICH was 11.6% [95%CI 5.9–21.5%].

MT to treat AIS due to LVO after cardiac interventions may result in good rates of functional recovery, though mortality and sICH may be higher. Regular and repeated neurological examinations should be performed following cardiac interventions, with special attention to stroke. If stroke is detected, MT should be considered as a viable option.