Twenty-four-hour National Institute of Health Stroke Scale predicts short- and long-term outcomes of basilar artery occlusion after endovascular treatment.

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of the 24-h National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) for short- and long-term outcomes of patients with basilar artery occlusion (BAO) after endovascular treatment (EVT) in daily clinical routine. Methods: Patients with EVT for acute basilar artery occlusion study registry with the 24-h NIHSS, and clinical outcomes documented at 90 days and 1 year were included. The NIHSS admission, 24-h NIHSS, NIHSS delta, and NIHSS percentage change, binary definitions of early neurological improvement [ENI; improvement of 4/(common ENI)/8 (major ENI)/10 (dramatic ENI)] NIHSS points were compared to predict the favorable outcomes and mortality at 90 days and 1 year. The primary outcome was defined as favorable if the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was 0-3 at 90 days. Results: Of the 644 patients treated with EVT, the 24-h NIHSS had the highest discriminative ability for favorable outcome prediction [receiver operator characteristic (ROC) Conclusion: The 24-h NIHSS with a threshold of ≤23 points was the best surrogate for short- and long-term outcomes after EVT for BAO in the clinical routine.