Computed tomography perfusion in patients of stroke with left ventricular assist device

Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are widely applied for patients with severe heart failure as a bridge to heart transplantation as well as destination therapy. Patients with implanted LVAD have an increased risk of cerebral thrombosis and computed tomographic perfusion (CTP) has the potential to be performed for early diagnosis and treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), including interventional thrombectomy. Here, we report our series of CTP examination in patients having suspected AIS after LVAD implantation. We retrospectively investigated 33 contrast-enhanced CTPs from January 2017 to December 2018 which were performed in 12 cases of patients because of possible neurological findings leading to suspected AIS during LVAD circulatory support who did not have definite ischemic findings nor intracerebral hemorrhage on non-contrast computed tomography. AIS with perfusion disturbance area was diagnosed in 11 (33.3%) out of a total of 33 CTPs in 4 (33.3%) out of 12 patients. Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) was successfully performed in this research study four times for three patients. CTP was able to detect and determine the indication for EVT without serious complications. CTP could potentially be the first-choice assessment for early diagnosis of AIS with recoverable ischemic penumbra in patients with LVAD implantation.