Deep-learning-based detection of large vessel occlusion: A comparison of CT and diffusion-weighted imaging.

Background: Rapid and accurate identification of large vessel occlusion (LVO) is crucial for determining eligibility for endovascular treatment. We aimed to validate whether computed tomography combined with clinical information (CT&CI) or diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) offers better predictive accuracy for anterior circulation LVO.

Methods: Computed tomography combined with clinical information and DWI data from patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke were collected. Three deep-learning models, convolutional neural network, EfficientNet-B2, and DenseNet121, were used to compare CT&CI and DWI for detecting anterior circulation LVO.

Results: A total of 456 patients, 228 patients with LVO [68.91 ± 12.84 years, 63.60% male; initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score: median 11 (7-14)] and without LVO [67.06 ± 12.29 years, 64.04% male; initial NIHSS score: median 2 (1-4)] were enrolled. Diffusion-weighted imaging achieved better results than CT&CI did in each performance metric. In DenseNet121, the area under the curves (AUCs) were found to be 0.833 and 0.756, respectively, while in EfficientNet-B2, the AUCs were 0.815 and 0.647, respectively.

Conclusions: In detecting the presence of anterior circulation LVO, DWI showed better results in each performance metric than CT&CI did, and the best-performing deep-learning model was DenseNet121.