Abstract #4058

Progression of Blood Brain Barrier Permeability in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: From Acute to Early Subacute Phase

Kun Huang¹, David John Mikulis², Frank Silver³, Andrea Kassner¹

¹Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ²Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; ³Neurology, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Bloodbrain barrier (BBB) disruption following acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is associated with hemorrhagic transformation. Previous data on BBB disruption after AIS is limited to the first several hours and non-existent in the subacute phase. However, knowledge of BBB dynamics after AIS is important in considering appropriate therapies. We evaluated the time course of BBB disruption in 39 patients over one hour to several days and found that BBB disruption increased between 16-50 hours after onset and decreased thereafter. This may represent transient stabilization of the initial ischemic endothelial BBB injury that stabilizes and reverses as a result of reperfusion.