RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Black Hole Sign under Anticoagulant Therapy: A Retrospective Comparison of Warfarin and Direct Oral Anticoagulants
JF American Journal of Neuroradiology
JO Am. J. Neuroradiol.
FD American Society of Neuroradiology
SP 489
OP 494
DO 10.3174/ajnr.A8528
VO 46
IS 3
A1 Sato, Hirotaka
A1 Kinoshita, Manabu
A1 Takano, Takuma
A1 Sanada, Takahiro
A1 Fujikawa, Seiya
A1 Toda, Masahiro
A1 Choji, Kiyoshi
A1 Kimura, Teruo
YR 2025
UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/46/3/489.abstract
AB BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) have rapidly replaced warfarin. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is known to be one of the most severe side effects of anticoagulant drugs. The black hole (BH) sign is reportedly a valid radiologic sign for predicting hematoma expansion in acute ICH. Here, we hypothesized that the frequency of BH signs might differ between warfarin and DOAC treatment. We critically evaluated the clinical value of the BH sign in acute ICH under warfarin versus DOAC therapy.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with acute ICH under anticoagulant therapy were enrolled. Hematoma volumes were measured by ABC/2. Radiologists blinded to the clinical information determined the presence or absence of the BH sign on CT images. This study defined a more than 12.5 mL increase in hematoma volume as cases with “expanded hematoma.”RESULTS: We analyzed 111 patients with acute ICH under anticoagulant therapy. Among them, 21 patients were treated with antagonists in this cohort. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of ventricular perforation (P = .02; adjusted OR: 3.51; 95% CI: 1.32–10.2) and the BH sign (P < .01; adjusted OR: 4.86; 95% CI: 1.73–14.3) were significantly different between expanded and nonexpanded hematoma cases. Comparison of hematoma volume and the presence of the BH sign between warfarin and DOAC cases indicated significant differences in maximum hematoma volume (P = .03) and presence of the BH sign (P < .01). The increase in hematoma volume was significantly greater when the BH sign was present under warfarin therapy (P = .05). In contrast, the increase in hematoma volume did not differ between cases with and without the BH sign in patients under DOAC therapy (P = .14).CONCLUSIONS: The BH sign is a useful radiologic signature to predict the expansion of acute ICH under anticoagulant therapy. ICH under warfarin tended to present the BH sign more frequently than that under DOAC. The results also showed that the BH sign is more reliable under warfarin than under DOAC therapy in patients with ICH.APTTactivated partial thromboplastin timeBHblack holeDOACdirect oral anticoagulantsHbhemoglobinICHintracerebral hemorrhageIQRinterquartile rangePT-INRprothrombin time-international normalized ratio