Tachycardia is associated with mortality and functional outcome after thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke

Background: The relationship between cardiac function and mortality after thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke is not well elucidated. Methods: We analyzed the relationship between cardiac function and mortality prior to discharge in a cohort of patients who underwent thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke at two large medical centers in New York City between December 2018 and November 2020. All analyses were performed using Welch's two sample t-test and logistic regression accounting for age, initial NIHSS and post-procedure ASPECTS score, where OR is for each unit increase in the respective variables. Results: Of 248 patients, 41 (16.5%) died prior to discharge. Mortality was significantly associated with higher initial heart rate (HR; 89 +/- 19 bpm vs 80 +/- 18 bpm, p = 0.004) and higher maximum HR over entire admission (137 +/- 26 bpm vs 114 +/- 25 bpm, p < 0.001). Mortality was also associated with presence of NSTEMI/STEMI (63% vs 29%, p < 0.001). When age, initial NIHSS score, and post-procedure ASPECTS score were included in multivariate analysis, there was still a significant relationship between mortality and initial HR (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01- 1.05, p = 0.02), highest HR over the entire admission (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02-1.05, p < 0.001), and presence of NSTEMI/STEMI (OR 3.76, 95% CI 1.66-8.87, p = 0.002). Conclusions: Tachycardia is associated with mortality in patients who undergo thrombectomy. Further investigation is needed to determine whether this risk is modifiable.