Dynamic trajectories of life-threatening mass effect in patients with large middle cerebral artery stroke

Background Life-threatening, space-occupying mass effect due to cerebral edema and/or hemorrhagic transformation is an early complication of patients with middle cerebral artery ( MCA ) stroke. Little is known about longitudinal trajectories of laboratory and vital signs leading up to radiographic and clinical deterioration related to this mass effect. Methods We curated a granular retrospective dataset of 635 patients with large middle cerebral artery ( MCA ) stroke totaling 108,547 data points for repeated measurements of 10 covariates, and 40 time-independent covariates. We assessed longitudinal trajectories of the 10 longitudinal variables during the 72 hours preceding three outcomes representative of life-threatening mass effect: midline shift ( MLS ) \(\ge\)5mm, pineal gland shift ( PGS ) \(>\)4mm, and decompressive hemicraniectomy ( DHC ). We used a “backward looking” trajectory approach. Patients were aligned according to the time of outcome occurrence and the trajectory of each variable was assessed prior to that outcome by accounting for both cases and non-cases. Results Of 635 patients, 49% were female, and mean age was 69 years. Thirty five percent of patients had MLS \(\ge\)5mm, 24.1% had PGS \(>\)4mm, and DHC occurred in 10.7%. For the three outcomes of interest, backward-looking trajectories showed mild increases in white blood cell count (10 up to 11 K/UL within 72 hours), temperature (up to half a degree within 24 hours), and sodium (1–3 mEq/L within 24 hours) leading up to outcomes. We also observed a decrease in heart rate (75 − 65 beats per minute) 24 hours prior to DHC. Conclusions Univariable longitudinal profiling showed that temperature, white blood cell count, and sodium increase prior to radiographic and clinical indicators of space-occupying mass effect. These findings will inform development of multivariable dynamic risk models to aid prediction of life-threatening space-occupying mass effect.