A nomogram for predicting thrombus composition in stroke patients with large vessel occlusion: combination of thrombus density and perviousness with clinical features

PurposeTo establish a nomogram incorporating pretreatment imaging parameters and clinical characteristics for predicting the thrombus composition of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with large vessel occlusion (LVO).MethodsWe retrospectively enrolled patients with occlusion of the Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) who underwent Mechanical Thrombectomy (MT). Retrieved thrombi were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) and Martius Scarlet Blue (MSB). Thrombi are assigned to the Fibrin-rich or RBC-rich group based on the relative fractions of Red Blood Cells (RBC), fibrin, and platelet. The independent risk factors for Fibrin-rich clots were determined via univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis and were then integrated to establish a nomogram.ResultsIn total, 98 patients were included in this study. Patients with fibrin-rich clots had worse functional outcome [modified Rankin scale (mRS) 0–2, 34.7% vs 63.2%, p = 0.005], longer procedure time (76.8 min vs 50.8 min, p = 0.001), and increased maneuvers of MT (1.84 vs 1.46, p = 0.703) than those with RBC-rich clots. The independent risk factors for Fibrin-rich clots were lower perviousness measured by Non-Contrast Computer Tomography (NCCT) and CT Angiography (CTA), lower thrombus relative attenuation on NCCT, elevated Platelet-WBC ratio (PWR) of admission peripheral blood, and previous antithrombotic medication. The nomogram showed good discrimination with an area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.852 (95% CI: 0.778–0.926). The calibration curve and decision curve analysis also displayed satisfactory accuracy and clinical utility.ConclusionThis study has developed and internally validated an easy-to-use nomogram which can help predict clot composition and optimize therapeutic strategies for thrombectomy.