AUTHOR=Han Bin , Raynald  , Sun Dapeng , Tong Xu , Jia Baixue , Wang Anxin , Mo Dapeng , Gao Feng , Ma Ning , Nguyen Thanh N. , Miao Zhongrong 

TITLE=Endovascular treatment for young patients with acute large vessel occlusion stroke in China: analysis of the ANGEL-ACT registry

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1255043

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2023.1255043

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Background: The incidence of acute ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion is relatively infrequent in the young adult population. We sought to evaluate their clinical outcomes after endovascular treatment (EVT) and stroke etiology compared with older patients.
Methods: We examined data from the ANGEL-ACT registry, a nationwide study in China focusing on EVT for acute ischemic stroke. We compared two age groups: <50 years old and ≥50 years old. Our analysis focused on outcome measures like 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, mortality, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). We adjusted for confounding variables.
Results: We included 1691 patients, 216 (13%) were <50 years old. Young patients had lower median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores (14 versus 17, P<0.001) and less cardiovascular comorbidities than older patients. Underlying intracranial atherosclerosis disease (ICAD) was higher in the young patients (39.4% versus 28.7%, P=0.001). Clinical outcome was less favorable in older compared to younger patients (mRS shift: 0.76 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.58-0.99]; functional independence [mRS score 0–2] 61% versus 39% [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.7 [95% CI, 0.51–0.97. Mortality and sICH did not differ between groups. Onset to puncture time (OTP) was longer in young patients (357 minutes versus 294 minutes, P = 0.001). 
Conclusions: An estimated thirteen percent of patients who underwent endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke were <50 years old. symptomatic underlying ICAD was more prevalent in the younger patient population. Despite a prehospital delay, younger patients exhibited more favorable outcomes than their older counterparts.