Mechanical Thrombectomy of Large Vessel Occlusions in COVID 19 Related Stroke: Endovascular and Clinical Outcomes

Background and PurposeStroke is a drastic complication and a poor prognostic marker of COVID-19 disease which emphasizes the importance of early identification and management of this complication. In this case series, we describe our experience of mechanical thrombectomy of large vessel occlusions (LVO) in patients with COVID-19.MethodsWe performed a retrospective study of a series of confirmed COVID-19 patients who underwent endovascular thrombectomy for acute cerebrovascular ischemic disease with large vessel occlusion. Patient demographics, presentations, lab values, angiographic and clinical outcomes were also reviewed.ResultsThree COVID-19 patients with large vessel occlusion who underwent endovascular thrombectomy were identified in our multi-center institution. Two patients had respiratory symptoms prior presentation and one patient presented initially with clinical deficits. Two patients had anterior circulation occlusion in the middle cerebral artery territory vs one had posterior circulation occlusion in the basilar artery. There was good angiographic outcome post thrombectomy in all patients, however poor clinical outcomes noted with no significant improvement in neurological manifestations in comparison with baseline at presentation. All patients developed critically severe symptoms during hospitalization requiring intubation and one patient died of COVID-19 related respiratory failure.ConclusionIn this small case series, we noted worse clinical outcomes in COVID-19 related LVO stroke despite effective thrombectomy, which may be related to the underlying COVID-19 disease and/or the nature of clot in these patients.