Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Showing posts with label no-reflow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no-reflow. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2026

Plasma metabolomic signatures of the no-reflow phenomenon in stroke patients following thrombectomy

 

Well shit, you're describing Capillaries that don't open due to pericytes;

 known since September 2011. The whole stroke medical world IS COMPLETELY FUCKING INCOMPENT FOR NOT SOLVING THAT PROBLEM!

Plasma metabolomic signatures of the no-reflow phenomenon in stroke patients following thrombectomy


  • 1. Department of Neurology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University (Army Medical University), Chongqing, China

  • 2. Guilin Municipal People's Hospital, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guilin, China

Abstract

Background: 

Although successful recanalization of the occluded artery is achieved, no-reflow phenomenon (NRP) becomes a main contributor to poor prognosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke. There are some laboratory results to represent biomarkers of the no-reflow phenomenon. However, few studies have characterized the metabolomic signature of NRP. Using high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS)-based method, this study aims to characterize the plasma metabolites associated with NRP.

Methods: 

A total of 34 patients with acute large vessel occlusion in anterior circulation who underwent successful thrombectomy with final angiographic expanded Treatment in Cerebral Infarction score of 2c-3 score were enrolled (19 without NRP and 15 with NRP). Fasting venous blood collected 24 h after the procedure was centrifuged and subjected to metabolomic analysis.

Results: 

We identified 29 differentially expressed plasma metabolites, the majority of which were phosphatidylcholine (PC) species. Among them, PC(20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/P-16:0) showed the most significant alteration and exhibited robust predictive performance (AUC = 0.846). The most prominently disrupted metabolic pathway was glycerophospholipid metabolism, particularly PC-mediated pathways, which appeared to play a central role in the association with of NRP.

Conclusion: 

This study depict the plasma metabolic profile of NRP patients following stroke thrombectomy, and discover that phosphatidylcholine-dominated metabolites and related pathways may play a potential role in the occurrence of NRP. These metabolic biomarkers demonstrate promising discriminative ability and may help identify high-risk patients at an early stage, providing new targets for mechanism research and therapeutic intervention.


More at link.

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Improving “No‐Reflow” After Complete Reperfusion: The Role of Intravenous Thrombolysis in Vertebrobasilar Artery Occlusion Patients Undergoing Endovascular Treatment

Have you even identified the problem properly? 

I'd suggest this needing a solution: Capillaries that don't open due to pericytes

Improving “No‐Reflow” After Complete Reperfusion: The Role of Intravenous Thrombolysis in Vertebrobasilar Artery Occlusion Patients Undergoing Endovascular Treatment


Abstract

Background

Previous studies have found that the use of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) before endovascular treatment (EVT) could mitigate the “no‐reflow” phenomenon in large‐vessel occlusion of the anterior circulation. However, the effect of preoperative IVT on reducing the “no‐reflow” phenomenon in vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (VBAO) is still uncertain. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of IVT before EVT versus EVT alone in patients with VBAO with complete reperfusion (mTICI [Modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction] 3).

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with acute VBAO at 65 stroke centers in China. Patients with complete reperfusion after EVT were included. These patients were divided into 2 groups on the basis of whether IVT was used before EVT, and propensity score matching was applied to balance the groups. The primary outcome was favorable functional outcome, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 3 at 90 days. Secondary outcomes were functional independence (modified Rankin Scale score of 0–2 at 90 days) and modified Rankin Scale shift at 90 days. Safety end points included symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and death at 90 days.

Results

Of the 2422 patients with VBAO who received EVT, 1452 patients achieved complete reperfusion. Among these, 273 patients received IVT before EVT. After propensity score matching, 268 patients treated with IVT before EVT were compared with 519 patients without IVT. In the matched cohort, the group that received IVT before EVT showed a higher rate of favorable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, 0–3) (adjusted odds ratio, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.03–1.91]; P=0.033) and a lower mortality rate at 90 days (adjusted odds ratio, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.52–0.99]; P=0.044) compared with the EVT alone group.

Conclusions

Our study indicates that IVT before EVT could improve favorable functional outcomes and reduce death in patients with VBAO who achieve complete reperfusion.

Thursday, May 15, 2025

The No-Reflow Paradox: Unblocking the Vessel, Not the Damage?

 Well shit, you're describing Capillaries that don't open due to pericytes;

 known since September 2011. The whole stroke medical world IS COMPLETELY FUCKING INCOMPENT FOR NOT SOLVING THAT PROBLEM!

The No-Reflow Paradox: Unblocking the Vessel, Not the Damage?

Rivet S, Churilov L, Yassi N, Kleinig TJ, Thijs V, Wu T, Dewey H, Desmond PM, Parsons MW, Donnan GA, et al. Persistent Tissue-Level Hypoperfusion (No-Reflow) Negates the Clinical Benefit of Successful Thrombectomy. Stroke. 2025.

In real-world clinical practice, a substantial number of ischemic stroke patients fail to achieve functional independence, even after technically successful thrombectomy with excellent angiographic reperfusion scores (TICI 2C-3). This discordance has been described as futile recanalization and may be attributable to a phenomenon referred to as “no-reflow.” This has been conceptualized as the failure of downstream microvascular reperfusion at the tissue level despite successful macrovascular recanalization. Several mechanisms including microvascular obstruction by microthrombi, edema-related microvascular compression, and pericyte-induced capillary contraction may be at play.1 Its clinical relevance is magnified in the context of recent trials expanding thrombectomy to patients with large core infarcts and perfusion mismatch — groups where optimizing tissue-level perfusion may be especially crucial. Prior research supports use of CTP imaging as a better predictor of outcomes following successful recanalization than CT angiogram alone and was even utilized as an indicator of therapeutic success in recent thrombolytic trials.

The authors Rivet et al. aimed to investigate the clinical impact of this no-reflow mechanism on functional outcomes by comparing patient characteristics between patients with “no-reflow” mechanism on perfusion imaging and varying degrees of angiographic recanalization (TICI scores). They conducted a post hoc analysis on the data from three clinical trials: EXTEND-IA (Endovascular Therapy for Ischemic Stroke with Perfusion-Imaging Selection) and EXTEND-IA TNK (Tenecteplase Versus Alteplase Before Thrombectomy for Ischemic Stroke) part 1 and 2 trials. Both qualitative and quantitative evidence of tissue perfusion evaluation for “no-reflow” were evaluated in a two-step process through application of commercially available fully automated software (RAPID; iSchemaView, Menlo Park, CA) on post-thrombectomy follow-up 24-hour perfusion imaging (CTP or MR Perfusion). The authors identified 2 distinct regions of interest (ROI) which were superimposed into perfusion maps and excluded signals associated with hemorrhagic transformation of infarct. No-reflow was defined when both qualitative and quantitative criteria were met — that is, visually demonstrable reduced intralesional rCBV or rCBF and >15% interside reduction in median rCBV or rCBF value2 (Figure 1). It is worth noting that since the primary studies were not primarily designed to evaluate for this phenomenon, not all patients had both MRP and CTP.

Figure 1. Imaging analysis method.
Figure 1. Imaging analysis method.

They compared both clinical and radiological characteristics of patients with combinations of no-reflow or completeFlow with different levels of angiographic success (full-TICI 2c3, partial-2b, unsuccessful-0-2a). No significant difference in the rate of no-reflow detection according to imaging modality (CT perfusion 13.6% [n=9/66] versus MRP 25.0% [n=21/84]; P=0.10) was observed. No-reflow mechanism occurred more frequently in successful angiographic recanalization (TICI 3) (n=17/30, 56.7%). Among patient characteristics across varying degrees of technical success, it is worth noting a statistically significant difference among time of onset and proportion of patients receiving thrombolytic (alteplase or tenecteplase).

The primary outcome of functional independence (mRS score of 0–2) was achieved in 43.33% (n=13/30) of patients with eTICI 2c3–NoReflow, versus 67.50% (n=81/120) of patients with eTICI 2c3–CompleteFlow, 63.03% (n=150/238) of patients with eTICI 2b and 50.00% (n=34/68) of patients with unsuccessful thrombectomy. In unadjusted analysis, patients with no-reflow  were less likely to experience functional independence despite technical success, TICI 2c-3 compared to completeFlow (odds ratio [OR], 0.37 [95% CI, 0.16–0.83]; P=0.02) or those with eTICI 2b (OR, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.21–0.97]; P=0.04) but had similar rate to patients with unsuccessful thrombectomy (OR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.32–1.82]; P=0.54). When adjusted for age, premorbid mRS, baseline NIHSS, and baseline core volume, multivariable analysis confirmed lower odds of functional independence with no-reflow and full/partial recanalization, and similar odds of functional independence with unsuccessful thrombectomy. Furthermore, exploratory analysis of functional infarct volumes (FIV) showed that despite similar volumes, patients with no-reflow had worse outcomes despite full recanalization compared to partial recanalization.

These findings suggest that “no-reflow” phenomenon negates benefit of macrovascular recanalization in achieving favorable clinical outcome. The authors further caution that no-reflow mechanism tends to occur more frequently with prolonged periods of ischemic injury, suggesting that this prevalence could be underestimated by this study given the inclusion of patients within the 4.5-hour time window. Their major strength includes use of prospectively collected data from clinical trials. As we push the boundaries of thrombectomy eligibility, tackling the no-reflow phenomenon may be the next frontier in improving patient-centered outcomes — representing a crucial step not only in restoring macrovascular blood flow but also in minimizing downstream ischemic injury, thereby broadening the therapeutic benefit for patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Persistent Tissue-Level Hypoperfusion (No-Reflow) Negates the Clinical Benefit of Successful Thrombectomy

 Just maybe you've rediscovered Capillaries that don't open due to pericytes September 2011. What the fuck is your solution to that problem? Describing a problem with NO solution is grounds for firing! My God, the amount of absolute stupidity in stroke is appalling!

Hypoperfusion is a term that describes "a reduced amount of blood flow".

Persistent Tissue-Level Hypoperfusion (No-Reflow) Negates the Clinical Benefit of Successful Thrombectomy

  • Abstract

    BACKGROUND:

    Tissue-level hypoperfusion (no-reflow) persists in 30% of patients with seemingly successful upstream angiographic recanalization at thrombectomy. We investigated the clinical impact of the no-reflow phenomenon by comparing patients with no-reflow versus patients with varying degrees of angiographic recanalization.

    METHODS:

    In a post hoc pooled analysis of the EXTEND-IA (Endovascular Therapy for Ischemic Stroke With Perfusion-Imaging Selection) and EXTEND-IA TNK (Tenecteplase Versus Alteplase Before Thrombectomy for Ischemic Stroke) part 1 and 2 trials, clinical and radiological outcomes were compared between patients with (1) full angiographic recanalization with no-reflow (expanded Treatment in Cerebral Ischemia [eTICI] 2c3–NoReflow), defined as >15% reduction in relative cerebral blood flow or Volume within the infarct relative to a contralateral homolog on 24-hour-follow-up perfusion computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging despite eTICI grade 2c-3 angiographic recanalization, (2) full angiographic recanalization and tissue reperfusion (eTICI 2c3–CompleteFlow), (3) partial angiographic recanalization (eTICI 2b), and (4) unsuccessful thrombectomy (eTICI 0-2a). The primary outcome, functional independence at 90 days, was investigated using a mixed effect logistic regression model, both unadjusted and adjusted for a priori-selected covariates, namely age, premorbid modified Rankin Scale, baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and baseline core volume.

    RESULTS:

    Among 537 patients from the overall pooled cohort, 456 patients were included in the analysis. The mean age of the included patients was 71 years old, and 54% were male. A favorable outcome (90-day modified Rankin Scale score of 0–2 or return to baseline modified Rankin Scale) was observed in 43.33% (n=13/30) of patients with eTICI 2c3–NoReflow, 67.50% (n=81/120) of eTICI 2c3–CompleteFlow, 63.03% (n=150/238) of eTICI 2b, and 50.00% (n=34/68) of unsuccessful thrombectomy. In multivariable analysis, patients with eTICI 2c3–NoReflow had lower odds of favorable outcome compared with those with eTICI 2c3–CompleteFlow (adjusted odds ratio, 0.31 [95% CI, 0.12–0.77]; P=0.01) and eTICI 2b (adjusted odds ratio, 0.40 [95% CI, 0.17–0.96]; P=0.04) but not unsuccessful thrombectomy (adjusted odds ratio, 1.02 [95% CI, 0.38–2.73]; P=0.97). Patients with eTICI 2c3–NoReflow had similar follow-up infarct volume to unsuccessful thrombectomy (β=−8.26 [95% CI, −27.38 to 10.86]; P=0.40) and eTICI 2b (β=9.38 [95% CI, −7.33 to 26.09]; P=0.27) but had larger infarcts compared with eTICI 2c3–CompleteFlow (β=18.85 [95% CI, 1.16–36.54]; P=0.04).

    CONCLUSIONS:

    When no-reflow occurred, clinical and radiological outcomes in patients with full angiographic recanalization were similar to patients with unsuccessful thrombectomy. Preventing or reversing no-reflow has the potential to augment the clinical benefit of reperfusion treatment in ischemic stroke.

    Graphical Abstract

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    Thursday, February 29, 2024

    No-reflow after recanalization in ischemic stroke: From pathomechanisms to therapeutic strategies

    Hopefully your competent? doctor has a solution for this problem. 

    No-reflow after recanalization in ischemic stroke: From pathomechanisms to therapeutic strategies

    Abstract

    Endovascular reperfusion therapy is the primary strategy for acute ischemic stroke. No-reflow is a common phenomenon, which is defined as the failure of microcirculatory reperfusion despite clot removal by thrombolysis or mechanical embolization. It has been reported that up to 25% of ischemic strokes suffer from no-reflow, which strongly contributes to an increased risk of poor clinical outcomes. No-reflow is associated with functional and structural alterations of cerebrovascular microcirculation, and the injury to the microcirculation seriously hinders the neural functional recovery following macrovascular reperfusion. Accumulated evidence indicates that pathology of no-reflow is linked to adhesion, aggregation, and rolling of blood components along the endothelium, capillary stagnation with neutrophils, astrocytes end-feet, and endothelial cell edema, pericyte contraction, and vasoconstriction. Prevention or treatment strategies aim to alleviate or reverse these pathological changes, including targeted therapies such as cilostazol, adhesion molecule blocking antibodies, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) activator, adenosine, pericyte regulators, as well as adjunctive therapies, such as extracorporeal counterpulsation, ischemic preconditioning, and alternative or complementary therapies. Herein, we provide an overview of pathomechanisms, predictive factors, diagnosis, and intervention strategies for no-reflow, and attempt to convey a new perspective on the clinical management of no-reflow post-ischemic stroke.

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    Friday, October 27, 2023

    “No-reflow” phenomenon in acute ischemic stroke

    You described a problem. DID NOTHING TO SOLVE IT! Useless. You're fired.

    “No-reflow” phenomenon in acute ischemic stroke

    Abstract

    Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) afflicts millions of individuals worldwide. Despite the advancements in thrombolysis and thrombectomy facilitating proximal large artery recanalization, the resultant distal hypoperfusion, referred to “no-reflow” phenomenon, often impedes the neurological function restoration in patients. Over half a century of scientific inquiry has validated the existence of cerebral “no-reflow” in both animal models and human subjects. Furthermore, the correlation between “no-reflow” and adverse clinical outcomes underscores the necessity to address this phenomenon as a pivotal strategy for enhancing AIS prognoses. The underlying mechanisms of “no-reflow” are multifaceted, encompassing the formation of microemboli, microvascular compression and contraction. Moreover, a myriad of complex mechanisms warrant further investigation. Insights gleaned from mechanistic exploration have prompted advancements in “no-reflow” treatment, including microthrombosis therapy, which has demonstrated clinical efficacy in improving patient prognoses. The stagnation in current “no-reflow” diagnostic methods imposes limitations on the timely application of combined therapy on “no-reflow” post-recanalization. This narrative review will traverse the historical journey of the “no-reflow” phenomenon, delve into its underpinnings in AIS, and elucidate potential therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. Our aim is to equip readers with a swift comprehension of the “no-reflow” phenomenon and highlight critical points for future research endeavors.

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