Functional Outcome and Procedure-Related Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Primary M2 Occlusion: Impact of Initial Thrombectomy Strategy and Procedural Factors.
Nishi Yuji Y, Sakamoto Yuki Y, Aoki Junya J, Suzuki Kentaro K et al.
The optimal thrombectomy strategy for primary middle cerebral artery M2 occlusion remains uncertain, particularly with respect to procedural safety. We retrospectively analyzed 180 consecutive patients with primary M2 occlusion treated with mechanical thrombectomy between January 2011 and August 2025. Patients were classified as contact aspiration first (CA-first) or stent retriever first (SR-first). Procedure-related subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), defined broadly to include asymptomatic minor SAH detected on 24-hour post-procedural non-contrast CT, occurred in 52 patients (29%), more frequently after SR-first than CA-first (39% vs 18%, p=0.003). Reperfusion success and functional outcome were similar between strategies. In multivariable analysis, smaller occluded vessel diameter, higher number of device passes, and SR-first strategy were independently associated with SAH. These findings were robust in complementary sensitivity analyses, including a model excluding pass count, inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), and multiple imputation combined with IPTW. SAH was associated with worse outcome in univariable but not multivariable analysis, likely reflecting overall procedural complexity and baseline severity rather than an independent effect on outcome.