Objective: To report results of endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in patients who were not candidates for intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) or in whom IVT failed.
Methods: Prospectively collected data for patients treated between January 2006 and June 2009 were analyzed retrospectively. After careful patient and therapy selection, 213 AIS patients with a mean NIHSS score of 14.2 at presentation underwent intervention. End points analyzed were Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) 2/3 reperfusion, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (SICH) rates, and 90-day outcomes (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] and mortality). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess independent predictors of end points.
Results: Of 189 patients with anterior circulation occlusions, 135 were treated within 0-8 hours, 33 were treated after 8 or more hours, and 21 were treated after wake-up stroke (WUS). Among 24 patients treated with posterior circulation occlusions, 4 had WUS. After treatment, 72.3% patients had TIMI 2/3 reperfusion; SICH rate was 8.7%; at 90 days, 36.6% recovered to mRS 2 or less. SICH rate was higher in patients with anterior circulation strokes who received treatment 8 or more hours after symptom onset (odds ratio [OR] = 3.8) and patients with WUS (OR = 4.9). In patients treated within 8 hours of onset of symptoms of anterior circulation stroke, SICH rate was only 6.7%. There was no difference in outcomes in patients with WUS compared with patients treated less than 8 hours after stroke onset.
Conclusions: This is the first and largest prospective study to the authors' knowledge that shows endovascular therapy for AIS patients in a real-world setting. High recanalization rates with low SICH rates were achieved using careful patient and therapy selection.
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