Acute Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Treated by Thrombectomy in a Patient with Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Severe Thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Objective—Experience on thrombolysis and/or thrombectomy for acute major ischemic strokes in the setting of deep (less than 40,000/mm3
) thrombocytopenia is limited.
Methods—Case report and review of the literature.
Results—A 63-year-old female with myelodysplastic syndrome presented with left middle cerebral artery
stroke within 2 hours of symptom onset. Severe thrombocytopenia (10.000/mm3
) precluded systemic
thrombolysis. However, endovascular thrombectomy provided successful recanalization and dramatic clinical recovery with NIHSS score decreasing from 20 to 2 soon after the procedure. Her modified Rankin
scale was 1 at the end of the third month.
Conclusion—This exceptional case highlights that neurothrombectomy could be feasible and of justifiable merit even in the setting of critically low thrombocytopenia if a meticulous procedure is followed in
subjects with severe acute stroke.