Prediction of tissue and clinical thrombectomy outcome in acute ischaemic stroke using deep learning

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Marie-Sophie von Braun - , Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS.AI) Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University (Author)
  • Kristin Starke - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Lucas Peter - , Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS.AI) Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University (Author)
  • Daniel Kürsten - , Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS.AI) Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University (Author)
  • Florian Welle - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Hans Ralf Schneider - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Max Wawrzyniak - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Daniel P O Kaiser - , Institute and Polyclinic of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Gordian Prasse - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Cindy Richter - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Elias Kellner - , University of Freiburg (Author)
  • Marco Reisert - , University of Freiburg (Author)
  • Julian Klingbeil - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Anika Stockert - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Karl-Titus Hoffmann - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)
  • Gerik Scheuermann - , Leipzig University (Author)
  • Christina Gillmann - , Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS.AI) Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University (Author)
  • Dorothee Saur - , University Hospital Leipzig (Author)

Abstract

The advent of endovascular thrombectomy has significantly improved outcomes for stroke patients with intracranial large vessel occlusion, yet individual benefits can vary widely. As demand for thrombectomy rises and geographical disparities in stroke care access persist, there is a growing need for predictive models that quantify individual benefits. However, current imaging methods for estimating outcomes may not fully capture the dynamic nature of cerebral ischaemia and lack a patient-specific assessment of thrombectomy benefits. Our study introduces a deep learning approach to predict individual responses to thrombectomy in acute ischaemic stroke patients. The proposed models provide predictions for both tissue and clinical outcomes under two scenarios: one assuming successful reperfusion and another assuming unsuccessful reperfusion. The resulting simulations of penumbral salvage and difference in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at discharge quantify the potential individual benefits of the intervention. Our models were developed on an extensive dataset from routine stroke care, which included 405 ischaemic stroke patients who underwent thrombectomy. We used acute data for training (n = 304), including multimodal CT imaging and clinical characteristics, along with post hoc markers such as thrombectomy success, final infarct localization and NIHSS at discharge. We benchmarked our tissue outcome predictions under the observed reperfusion scenario against a thresholding-based clinical method and a generalized linear model. Our deep learning model showed significant superiority, with a mean Dice score of 0.48 on internal test data (n = 50) and 0.52 on external test data (n = 51), versus 0.26/0.36 and 0.34/0.35 for the baselines, respectively. The NIHSS sum score prediction achieved median absolute errors of 1.5 NIHSS points on the internal test dataset and 3.0 NIHSS points on the external test dataset, outperforming other machine learning models. By predicting the patient-specific response to thrombectomy for both tissue and clinical outcomes, our approach offers an innovative biomarker that captures the dynamics of cerebral ischaemia. We believe this method holds significant potential to enhance personalized therapeutic strategies and to facilitate efficient resource allocation in acute stroke care.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numberawaf013
Pages (from-to)2348-2360
Number of pages13
JournalBrain : a journal of neurology
Volume148
Issue number7
Early online date18 Jan 2025
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-5258-0025/work/176863089
unpaywall 10.1093/brain/awaf013
Mendeley b6d73342-e5d6-3e43-a59b-086ac7391bb0
Scopus 105009991894

Keywords

Keywords

  • Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Brain Ischemia/surgery, Deep Learning, Female, Humans, Ischemic Stroke/surgery, Male, Middle Aged, Thrombectomy/methods, Treatment Outcome