Endovascular Thrombolysis or Thrombectomy for Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Study of Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2004-2014

Background and purpose: 15% of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) patients have poor outcomes despite anticoagulation. Uncontrolled studies suggest that endovascular approaches may benefit such patients. In this study, we analyze Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) data to evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular therapy (ET) versus medical management in CVT. We also examined the yearly trends of ET utilization in the United States. Methods: International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes were utilized to identify CVT patients who received ET. To make the data nationally representative, weights were applied per NIS recommendations. Since ET was not randomly assigned to patients and was likely to be influenced by disease severity, propensity score weighting methods were utilized to correct for this treatment selection bias. Outcome variables included in-hospital mortality and discharge disposition. To determine if our primary outcomes were associated with ET, we used weighted multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results: Of the 49,952 estimated CVT cases, 48,704 (97%) received medical management and 1248 (3%) received ET (mechanical thrombectomy [MT] alone, N = 269 [21%], MT ± thrombolysis, N = 297 [24%], and thrombolysis alone, N = 682 [55%]). Patients who received ET were older with more CVT associated complications including venous infarct, intracranial hemorrhage, coma, seizure, and cerebral edema. There was a significant yearly rise in the use of ET, with a trend favoring MT versus thrombolysis alone. ET was independently associated with an increased risk of death (odds ratio 1.96, 95% confidence interval 1.15-3.32). Conclusions: Patients receiving ET experienced higher mortality after adjusting for age and CVT associated complications. Large, well designed prospective randomized trials are warranted for further evaluation of the safety and efficacy of ETs.