Intraluminal thrombus was an independent predictor of abdominal aortic aneurysm growth in a large patient cohort with repeated CT or MRI. Background Intraluminal thrombus (ILT) within abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) may be a potential marker for subsequent aneurysm growth. Purpose To investigate the role of ILT in AAA progression a...

Background and Purpose: Aneurysmal wall enhancement (AWE) on vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging (VW-MRI) has been described as a new imaging biomarker of unstable unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs). Previous studies of symptomatic UIAs are limited due to small sample sizes and lack of AWE quantification. Our study aims to investigate whether qualitative and quantitative assessment of AWE can differentiate symptomatic and asymptomatic UIAs. Methods: Consecutive patients with UIAs were prospectively recruited for vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging at 3T from October 2014 to October 2019. UIAs were categorized as symptomatic if presenting with sentinel headache or oculomotor nerve palsy directly related to the aneurysm. Evaluation of wall enhancement included enhancement pattern (0=none, 1=focal, and 2=circumferential) and quantitative wall enhancement index (WEI). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the parameters associated with symptoms. Results: Two hundred sixty-seven patients with 341 UIAs (93 symptomatic and 248 asymptomatic) were included in this study. Symptomatic UIAs more frequently showed circumferential AWE than asymptomatic UIAs (66.7% versus 17.3%, P <0.001), as well as higher WEI (median [interquartile range], 1.3 [1.0–1.9] versus 0.3 [0.1–0.9], P <0.001). In multivariate analysis, both AWE pattern and WEI were independent factors associated with symptoms (odds ratio=2.03 across AWE patterns [95% CI, 1.21–3.39], P =0.01; odds ratio=3.32 for WEI [95% CI, 1.51–7.26], P =0.003). The combination of AWE pattern and WEI had an area under the curve of 0.91 to identify symptomatic UIAs, with a sensitivity of 95.7% and a specificity of 73.4%. Conclusions: In a large cohort of UIAs with vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging, both AWE pattern and WEI were independently associated with aneurysm-related symptoms. The qualitative and quantitative features of AWE can potentially be used to identify unstable intracranial aneurysms.

The utility and necessity of pretreatment with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) before mechanical thrombectomy (MT) remains an issue of strong debate. This study aims to compare the outcomes of bridging thrombolysis (BT, IVT+MT) with direct MT (d-MT) after large vessel ischemic stroke based on the most up-to-date evidence. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library from January 2017 to June 2020 were searched for studies that directly compared the outcomes of the 2 strategies. Methodological quality was assessed using the Quality in Prognostic Studies tool. Combined estimates of odds ratios (ORs) of BT versus d-MT were derived. Multiple subgroup analyses were performed, especially for IVT-eligible patients. Thirty studies involving 7191 patients in the BT group and 4891 patients in the d-MT group were included. Methodological quality was generally high. Compared with patients in the d-MT group, patients in the BT group showed significantly better functional independence (modified Rankin Scale score 0–2) at 90 days (OR=1.43 [95% CI, 1.28–1.61]), had lower mortality at 90 days (OR=0.67 [95% CI, 0.60–0.75]), and achieved higher successful recanalization (modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Ischemia score 2b-3) rate (OR=1.23 [95% CI, 1.07–1.42]). No significant difference was detected in the occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage between 2 groups (OR=1.01 [95% CI, 0.86–1.19]). Subgroup analysis showed that functional independence frequency remained significantly higher in BT group regardless of IVT eligibility or study design. Compared with d-MT, bridging with IVT led to better clinical outcomes, lower mortality at 90 days, and higher successful recanalization rates, without increasing the risk of near-term hemorrhagic complications. The benefits of BT based on this most recent literature evidence support the current guidelines of using BT.