• Dylan N Wolman, Michael Iv, Max Wintermark, Gregory Zaharchuk, Michael P Marks, Huy M Do, Robert L Dodd, Gregory W Albers, Maarten G Lansberg, and Jeremy J Heit.
• Department of Radiology, Neuroimaging and Neurointervention Division, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, USA.
• J Neurointerv Surg. 2018 Dec 1; 10 (12): 1132-1136.

Background And PurposeAcute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients who benefit from endovascular treatment have a large vessel occlusion (LVO), small core infarction, and salvageable brain. We determined if diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) alone can correctly identify and localize anterior circulation LVO and accurately triage patients to endovascular thrombectomy (ET).Materials And MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included patients undergoing MRI for the evaluation of AIS symptoms. DWI and PWI images alone were anonymized and scored for cerebral infarction, LVO presence and LVO location, DWI-PWI mismatch, and ET candidacy. Readers were blinded to clinical data. The primary outcome measure was accurate ET triage. Secondary outcomes were detection of LVO and LVO location.ResultsTwo hundred and nineteen patients were included. Seventy-three patients (33%) underwent endovascular AIS treatment. Readers correctly and concordantly triaged 70 of 73 patients (96%) to ET (κ=0.938; P=0.855) and correctly excluded 143 of 146 patients (98%; P=0.942). DWI and PWI alone had a 95.9% sensitivity and a 98.4% specificity for accurate endovascular triage. LVO were accurately localized to the ICA/M1 segment in 65 of 68 patients (96%; κ=0.922; P=0.817) and the M2 segment in 18 of 20 patients (90%; κ=0.830; P=0.529).ConclusionAIS patients with anterior circulation LVO are accurately identified using DWI and PWI alone, and LVO location may be correctly inferred from PWI. MRA omission may be considered to expedite AIS triage in hyperacute scenarios or may confidently supplant non-diagnostic or artifact-limited MRA.© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

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