Extent of Contrast Enhancement on Non-Enhanced Computed Tomography after Intra-Arterial Thrombectomy for Acute Infarction on Anterior Circulation: As a Predictive Value for Malignant Brain Edema.

Objective: To determine whether the use of contrast enhancement (especially its extent) predicts malignant brain edema after intra-arterial thrombectomy (IAT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: We reviewed the records of patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent IAT for occlusion of the internal carotid artery or the middle cerebral artery between January 2012 and March 2015. To estimate the extent of contrast enhancement (CE), we used the contrast enhancement area ratio (CEAR)-i.