A total of 136 participants with clinical and imaging-confirmed AIS in the MCA territory were included in the study, comprising 92 males (67.6%) and 44 females (32.3%), with a mean age of 54.4 ± 16 years. The majority of participants (56.6%) had moderate neurological deficits (mNIHSS score 5–15), while 35.3% had mild deficits (mNIHSS score 0–4), and 8.1% presented with moderately severe to severe deficits (mNIHSS score >16).
DWI-ASPECT scoring indicated poor functional outcomes (scores ≤7) in 51.5% of participants and good outcomes (scores ≥8) in 48.5%, with a mean score of 6.6 ± 2.3.
The mean absolute cerebral blood flow (aCBF1) in infarcted regions was 18.9 ± 9.8 ml/100 g/min, while in contralateral regions (aCBF2) it was 36.4 ± 13.9 ml/100 g/min. The relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was 0.55 ± 0.24.
A significant negative correlation was found between mNIHSS scores and both aCBF (r = -0.556, p < 0.001) and rCBF (r = -0.636, p < 0.001), indicating that greater neurological impairment was associated with reduced cerebral perfusion. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was observed between DWI-ASPECT score and both aCBF (r = 0.413, p < 0.001) and rCBF (r = 0.533, p < 0.001), suggesting that higher CBF correlated with better functional outcomes.
