Posterior circulation wake-up stroke and CT perfusion: Effectiveness and safety of reperfusion therapy

Patients waking up with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) represent an underprivileged subgroup of stroke patients. Because in wake-up stroke (WUS) time of symptom onset is unknown, best management is challenging. Patients with WUS involving posterior circulation stroke represent an even more delicate subgroup. Use of multimodal computed tomography (mCT), combination of non-contrast CT, CT angiography and CT perfusion (CTP) is generally used in anterior ischemic strokes to identify candidates for reperfusion therapies; its use in posterior AIS has not been widely accepted. We aimed to describe effectiveness and safety of CTP in evaluation of posterior-WUS patients eligible for reperfusion treatment.