Background: Patients treated at off-hours for acute conditions have increased mortality rates. This effect has been poorly evaluated in patients treated by mechanical thrombectomy (MT).
Objective: This study aimed at comparing outcomes between patients treated at off-hours and at working hours by MT for acute stroke due to large-vessel occlusion in the anterior circulation, in a well-organised network.
Method: We included consecutive adults who underwent MT for large-vessel occlusion in the anterior circulation over a 51-month period, in the network of 16 hospitals from the North-of-France area, sharing similar protocols. Patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging-scans at admission and then 22-36 h later. We compared 3-month outcomes of patients treated at off-hours and at working time, the primary outcome being a modified Rankin scale (mRS) 0 to 2.
Results: The study population consisted of 1,179 patients (631 women, 53.5%; mean age 72 years; median baseline National Institutes of Stroke Scale 17; 639 at off-hours, 54.2%; 734 treated with rt-PA, 62.3%; median delay stroke recognition to end of MT 281 min). No patient was lost to follow-up. The outcomes did not differ between the two groups: adjusted odds ratio (adjOR) for mRS 0-2: 0.89; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67-1.18; adjOR for mRS 0-1: 0.91; 95% CI 0.68-1.21; adjOR for death 1.12; 95% CI 0.81-1.55).
Conclusion: Our study did not show worse outcomes in patients treated at off-hours. This result suggests that the off-hours effect reported in other studies can be minimized by a coordinated organisation of stroke care providing similar levels of care at off-hours.
Keywords: Cerebral ischaemia; Ischaemic stroke; Mechanical thrombectomy; Off-hours; Outcome.