BackgroundEndovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is highly effective for acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion (LVO) and moderate to severe neurologic deficits.ObjectiveTo undertake an effectiveness and safety analysis of EVT in patients with LVO and NIHSS ≤6 using datasets of multicentre and multinational nature.MethodsWe pooled patients with anterior circulation occlusion from 3 prospective international cohorts. Patients were eligible if presentation occurred within 12 hours from last known well and baseline NIHSS ≤6. Primary outcome was mRS 0–1 at 90 days. Secondary outcomes included neurologic deterioration at 24 hours (change in NIHSS of ≥2 points), mRS 0–2 at 90-day and 90-day all-cause mortality. We used propensity score matching to adjust for non-randomized treatment allocation.ResultsAmong 236 patients who fit inclusion criteria, 139 received EVT and 97 received medical management. Compared to medical management, the EVT group was younger (65 vs 72 years; p < 0.001), had more proximal occlusions (p < 0.001), and less frequently received concurrent intravenous thrombolysis (57.7% vs 71.2%; p = 0.04). After propensity score matching, clinical outcomes between the 2 groups were not significantly different. EVT patients had an 8.6% (95% CI: −8.8% to 26.1%) higher rate of excellent 90-day outcome, despite a 22.3% (95% CI: 3.0%–41.6%) higher risk of neurologic deterioration at 24 hours.ConclusionsEVT for LVO in patients with low NIHSS was associated with increased risk of neurologic deterioration at 24 hours. However, both EVT and medical management resulted in similar proportions of excellent clinical outcomes at 90 days.

Background and objectives:COVID-19 related inflammation, endothelial dysfunction and coagulopathy may increase the bleeding risk and lower efficacy of revascularization treatments in patients with acute ischemic stroke. We aimed to evaluate the safety and outcomes of revascularization treatments in patients with acute ischemic stroke and COVID-19.Methods:Retrospective multicenter cohort study of consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and/or endovascular treatment (EVT) between March 2020 and June 2021, tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection. With a doubly-robust model combining propensity score weighting and multivariate regression, we studied the association of COVID-19 with intracranial bleeding complications and clinical outcomes. Subgroup analyses were performed according to treatment groups (IVT-only and EVT).Results:Of a total of 15128 included patients from 105 centers, 853 (5.6%) were diagnosed with COVID-19. 5848 (38.7%) patients received IVT-only, and 9280 (61.3%) EVT (with or without IVT). Patients with COVID-19 had a higher rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH) (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.53; 95% CI 1.16–2.01), symptomatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SSAH) (OR 1.80; 95% CI 1.20–2.69), SICH and/or SSAH combined (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.23–1.99), 24-hour (OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.58–3.86) and 3-month mortality (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.52–2.33).COVID-19 patients also had an unfavorable shift in the distribution of the modified Rankin score at 3 months (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.26–1.60).Discussion:Patients with acute ischemic stroke and COVID-19 showed higher rates of intracranial bleeding complications and worse clinical outcomes after revascularization treatments than contemporaneous non-COVID-19 treated patients. Current available data does not allow direct conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of revascularization treatments in COVID-19 patients, or to establish different treatment recommendations in this subgroup of patients with ischemic stroke. Our findings can be taken into consideration for treatment decisions, patient monitoring and establishing prognosis.

Data on efficacy, safety, and logistics of MT from the CR were similar to data from the HERMES collaboration.

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Data from this multicentre study showed that multimodal EVT was an effective recanalization method in acute BAO. Bridging therapy shortens the time to treatment, which was identified as the only modifiable outcome predictor.