Capillary Transit Time Heterogeneity Is Associated with Modified Rankin Scale Score at Discharge in Patients with Bilateral High Grade Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) is inherently unreliable in patients with severe perfusion abnormalities. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of a novel index of microvascular flow-patterns, so-called capillary transit time heterogeneity (CTH) to that of the commonly used delay parameter T(max) in patients with bilateral high grade internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS). METHODS: Consecutive patients with bilateral ICAS ≥ 70%(NASCET) who underwent PWI were retrospectively examined. Maps of CTH and T(max) were analyzed with a volumetric approach using several thresholds. Predictors of favorable outcome (modified Rankin scale at discharge 0–2) were identified using univariate and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Eighteen patients were included. CTH ≥ 30s differentiated best between patients with favorable and unfavorable outcome when both hemispheres were taken into account (sensitivity 83%, specificity 73%, area under the curve [AUC] 0.833 [confidence interval (CI) 0.635; 1.000]; p = 0.027). The best discrimination using T(max) was achieved with a threshold of ≥ 4s (sensitivity 83%, specificity 64%, AUC 0.803 [CI 0.585;1.000]; p = 0.044). The highest AUC was found for left sided volume with CTH ≥ 15s (sensitivity 83%, specificity 91%, AUC 0.924 [CI 0.791;1.000]; p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: The study suggests that CTH is superior to T(max) in discriminating ICAS patients with favorable from non-favorable outcome. This finding may reflect the simultaneous involvement of large vessels and microvessels in ICAS and underscore the need to diagnose and manage both aspects of the disease.