Endovascular Thrombectomy in Young Patients With Stroke: A MR CLEAN Registry Study

Acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion is uncommon in young adults. We assessed stroke cause in young patients and compared their outcomes after endovascular thrombectomy with older patients. We used data (March 2014 until November 2017) of patients with an anterior circulation large vessel occlusion stroke from the MR CLEAN (Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands) Registry, a nationwide, prospective study on endovascular thrombectomy in the Netherlands. We compared young patients (18-49 years) with older patients (≥50 years). Outcomes included modified Rankin Scale score after 90 days (both shift and dichotomized analyses), expanded Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Analyses were adjusted for confounding. We included 3256 patients, 310 (10%) were 18 to 49 years old. Young patients had lower median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores (14 versus 16,