A Study on Relationship of Hounsfield Units Value on Non-contrast Computer Tomography and Recanalization of Intravenous Thrombolysis

Title:A Study on Relationship of Hounsfield Units Value on Non-contrast Computer Tomography and Recanalization of Intravenous Thrombolysis

Volume: 18 Issue: 4

Author(s): Zhen Wang, Kangping Song, Wei Xu, Guohua He, Tieqiao Feng, Yan Liu, Guilan Xu, Jue Hu, Te Wang, Hui Xiao, Jiansheng Tang, Junjie Zhou and Zhi Song*

Affiliation:

• Department of Neurology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan,China

Keywords: Hounsfield Units (HU), Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO), Non-Contrast Computed Tomography (NCCT), recanalization, Intravenous Thrombolysis (IVT), Endovascular Treatment (EVT).

Abstract: Objective: The objective of this study is to determine whether the administration of intravenous alteplase would be beneficial or futile to patients with acute ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion (LVO) before endovascular treatment (EVT) and determine the relationship between Hounsfield units (HU) in non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) and recanalization by alteplase.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with acute ischemic stroke caused by LVO who received intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) or followed by EVT at our center during November 2016 and October 2020. The clinical characteristics and imaging features of patients who achieved recanalization after IVT, and those who did not, were compared.

Results: Forty-three eligible patients were enrolled; 12 achieved recanalization by IVT. Baseline clinical characteristics did not differ between patients of the recanalization and non-recanalization groups. HU in the NCCT were estimated and statistically significant maximum and mean values of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) were found between the groups (P< 0.05). The results hint that patients in the non-recanalization group have a higher rHU and δHU value of the ipsilateral MCA compared with recanalization group (P< 0.05). With regards to the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, we demonstrated that a high HU value of the ipsilateral MCA could be a predictor for non-recanalization by IVT.

Conclusion: Patients suffering LVO stroke are less likely to obtain recanalization by IVT with a high HU value of the ipsilateral MCA. It is feasible to screen patients with LVO using HU for direct EVT.

Cite this article as:

Wang Zhen , Song Kangping , Xu Wei , He Guohua , Feng Tieqiao , Liu Yan, Xu Guilan , Hu Jue, Wang Te , Xiao Hui , Tang Jiansheng , Zhou Junjie and Song Zhi*, A Study on Relationship of Hounsfield Units Value on Non-contrast Computer Tomography and Recanalization of Intravenous Thrombolysis, Current Neurovascular Research 2021; 18 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1567202618666211110112602