Infarct Core Growth During Interhospital Transfer For Thrombectomy Is Faster At Night

BACKGROUND: Preclinical stroke models have recently reported faster infarct growth (IG) when ischemia was induced during daytime. Considering the inverse rest-activity cycles of rodents and humans, faster IG during the nighttime has been hypothesized in humans. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated acute ischemic stroke patients with a large vessel occlusion transferred from a primary to 1 of 3 French comprehensive stroke center, with magnetic resonance imaging obtained at both centers before thrombectomy. Interhospital IG rate was calculated as the difference in infarct volumes on the 2 diffusion-weighted imaging, divided by the time elapsed between the 2 magnetic resonance imaging. IG rate was compared between patients transferred during daytime (7:00–22:59) and nighttime (23:00–06:59) in multivariable analysis adjusting for occlusion site, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, infarct topography, and collateral status. RESULTS: Out of the 329 patients screened, 225 patients were included. Interhospital transfer occurred during nighttime in 31 (14%) patients and daytime in 194 (86%). Median interhospital IG was faster when occurring at night (4.3 mL/h; interquartile range, 1.2–9.5) as compared to the day (1.4 mL/h; interquartile range, 0.4–3.5; P <0.001). In multivariable analysis, nighttime transfer remained independently associated with IG rate ( P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Interhospital IG appeared faster in patients transferred at night. This has potential implications for the design of neuroprotection trials and acute stroke workflow.