Manual aspiration thrombectomy using a Penumbra catheter in patients with acute migrated MCA occlusion

Background: We retrospectively assessed the efficacy and safety of manual aspiration thrombectomy (MAT) using a Penumbra catheter in patients with acute migrated middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients who underwent MAT using Penumbra 4 or 5 MAX reperfusion catheters for the treatment of acute MCA occlusion between January 2012 and December 2015. A migrated thrombus was defined as distal migration greater than ≥1 cm on initial cerebral angiography compared with preprocedural angiographic findings. We evaluated immediate angiographic results and clinical outcomes through a review of electronic medical records and compared clinical outcomes between migrated and non-migrated MCA occlusions. Results: During this period, 98 patients underwent MAT using Penumbra catheters for treatment of acute MCA occlusions. Of these, 19 (19.4%) had a migrated MCA thrombus on initial cerebral angiography compared with preprocedural angiographic findings. The overall rate of successful recanalization (TICI grade ≥2b) was 90.8%. The rate of successful recanalization in the migrated thrombus group was 94.7% (18/19). Overall procedure time for recanalization in the migrated thrombus group was significantly shorter than that in the non-migrated thrombus group (p=0.001). Although the difference was not significant, there was a trend toward more favorable clinical outcomes in the migrated thrombus group compared to the non-migrated thrombus groups (78.9% versus 60.8%, p=0.231). Conclusion: MAT appears to be safe and can achieve a high rate of successful recanalization and favorable clinical outcomes with short procedure time and without serious complications in patients with acute migrated MCA occlusion.