Is misery perfusion still a predictor of stroke in symptomatic major cerebral artery disease?

Studies in the 1990s demonstrated that misery perfusion is a predictor of subsequent stroke in medically treated patients with symptomatic major cerebral artery disease. A recent randomized controlled trial demonstrated no benefit of bypass surgery for such patients. In this light, outcome in patients with misery perfusion has regained interest. The purpose of this study was to determine whether misery perfusion is still a predictor of subsequent stroke despite recent improvements in medical treatment for secondary prevention of stroke, and if so, whether the predictive value of misery perfusion has changed in recent years. We prospectively studied 165 non-disabled patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic internal carotid artery or middle cerebral artery occlusive diseases who underwent positron emission tomography from 1999 to 2008. Misery perfusion was defined as decreased cerebral blood flow, increased oxygen extraction fraction and decreased ratio of cerebral blood flow to blood volume in the hemisphere supplied by the diseased artery. All patients were followed up for 2 years until stroke recurrence or death. Bypass surgery was performed in 19 of 35 patients with and 16 of 130 patients without misery perfusion. The 2-year incidence of ipsilateral ischaemic stroke was six and four patients with and without misery perfusion, including two and one after surgery, respectively (P