Analysis of Frailty in Geriatric Patients as a Prognostic Factor in Endovascular Treated Patients with Large Vessel Occlusion Strokes

• Main Authors: Marlena Schnieder, Mathias Bähr, Mareike Kirsch, Ilko Maier, Daniel Behme, Christian Heiner Riedel, Marios-Nikos Psychogios, Alex Brehm, Jan Liman, Christine A. F. von Arnim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: stroke; frailty; elderly patients; hospital frailty risk score; mechanical thrombectomy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/10/2171

Frailty is associated with an increased risk of adverse health-care outcomes in elderly patients. The Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) has been developed and proven to be capable of identifying patients which are at high risk of adverse outcomes. We aimed to investigate whether frail patients also face adverse outcomes after experiencing an endovascular treated large vessel occlusion stroke (LVOS). In this retrospective observational cohort study, we analyzed patients ≥ 65 years that were admitted during 2015–2019 with LVOS and endovascular treatment. Primary outcomes were mortality and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) after three months. Regression models were used to determine the impact of frailty. A total of 318 patients were included in the cohort. The median HFRS was 1.6 (IQR 4.8). A total of 238 (75.1%) patients fulfilled the criteria for a low-frailty risk with a HFRS < 5.72 (22.7%) for moderate-frailty risk with an HFRS from 5–15 and 7 (2.2%) patients for a high-frailty risk. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that the HFRS was associated with an increased mortality after 90 days (CI (95%) 1.001 to 1.236; OR 1.112) and a worse mRS (CI (95%) 1.004 to 1.270; OR 1.129). We identified frailty as an impact factor on functional outcome and mortality in patients undergoing thrombectomy in LVOS.