Clinical-diffusion mismatch and benefit from thrombolysis 3 to 6 hours after acute stroke

Abstract

Background and Purpose - The clinical-diffusion mismatch (CDM) model has been proposed as a simpler tool than perfusion-diffusion mismatch (PDM) to select acute ischemic stroke patients for thrombolytic therapy. We hypothesized that in the 3- to 6-hour time window, the effect of tPA was significantly greater in patients with CDM than in patients without CDM. Methods - This is a substudy of EPITHET, a double-blind multi-center study of 100 patients randomized to tPA or placebo 3 to 6 hours after stroke onset. MRI was obtained before treatment, and at 3 to 5 days and 90 days after treatment. Presence of PDM (perfusion deficit/DWIvolume DWIvolume) and CDM (NIHSS ≥8 and DWI volume ≤25 mL) was de..