21 Sep The Capillary Index Score as a Marker of Viable Cerebral Tissue in Stroke
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Firas Al-Ali
Firas Al-Ali, MD
Departments of Neuro-Interventional Surgery
Cleveland Clinic Akron General, Akron, OH
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The Capillary Index Score (CIS) is based on the simple following assumption: “ the presence of capillary blush on diagnostic cerebral angiography, in an ischemic area, is an indicator of ischemic BUT viable cerebral tissue, while its absence indicate NONE- no viable tissue”
In previous publication we demonstrated that the CIS is a strong predictor of clinical outcome (CO) in patients presented acute ischemic stroke (AIS) . In previous studies AIS patients presented with Poor CIS (pCIS) did not have a good clinical outcome despite timely and full recanalization, while when patients presented with favorable CIS (fCIS) had 80-90% good clinical outcome when achieved good recanalization.
In this latest paper we tried to test our original assumption mentioned above. i.e. If the absence of capillary blush in a certain vascular cerebral territory signify no viable cerebral tissue then when an area on diagnostic cerebral cerebral angiogram (DCA) lack capillary blush BEFORE endovascular treatment, it will progress to infarcted tissue despite timely and full recanalization, seen as an area of hypodensity on the POST treatment Cat-Scan (CT).
While an area with Capillary blush in an ischemic area seen on the pre treatment DCA, will not show infarction on POST treatment CT if we obtain successful and timely recanalization.
In this paper we matched areas on the Pre and post -treatment CT to its corresponding location on the Pre-treatment DCA, and we demonstrated that when an area lacked capillary blush on the pre-treatment DCA had a very high chance to progress from normal on the Pre-treatment CT to hypodensity on the post treatment CT (infarcted cerebral tissue). while the areas with capillary blush on the rep treatment CT stayed normal on the post treatment CT when we achieve timely recanalization of the occluded vessel.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: The Capillary Index Score is a powerful tool to assess residual viable tissue in a ischemic area, and has a great prognostic value for clinical outcome.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: We are now enrolling patient in a multi-center prospective trial, the Capillary Index Score Trial, phase I, to prove the value of CIS prospectively, and to demonstrate that:
1- CIS is a powerful indicator of clinical outcome
2- Treatment patients with pCIS could harmful by demonstrating that most complications happen in the pCIS group.
In The CIS Trial, phase II, we will try to demonstrate that treating patients with pCIS is futile by randomizing them into two groups:
One offered endovascular treatment plus usual medical management and the second group offered only usual medical management.
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
The Capillary Index Score as a Marker of Viable Cerebral Tissue
Proof of Concept—The Capillary Index Score in the MR CLEAN (Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands) Trial
Firas Al-Ali, Olvert A. Berkhemer, Wina P. Yousman, John J. Elias, Evin N. Bender, Hester F. Lingsma, Aad van der Lugt, Diederik W.J. Dippel,Yvo B.W.E.M. Roos, Robert J. van Oostenbrugge, Wim H. van Zwam, William P. Dillon and Charles B.L.M. Majoie
Stroke: http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.013513
Published: September 1, 2016
Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.
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Last Updated on September 21, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD