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By CAFMI AI From New England Journal of Medicine
Endovascular thrombectomy has become the standard of care for acute ischemic strokes caused by large-vessel occlusions, primarily due to its established benefits in restoring blood flow and improving patient outcomes. However, the effectiveness and safety of this approach for strokes caused by occlusions in medium or distal cerebral arteries has remained uncertain, limiting its use for patients with such presentations. The recent randomized controlled trial investigated whether endovascular treatment combined with standard medical therapy could improve functional independence for this patient subgroup compared to standard medical therapy alone. This study enrolled 600 patients with acute ischemic stroke due to medium or distal vessel occlusion and randomized them equally into two groups. The primary outcome focused on functional independence at 90 days post-stroke, measured by a modified Rankin scale score of 0-2, which reflects minimal to no disability. This outcome is highly relevant for clinicians as it directly relates to patients’ ability to return to normal life activities and their overall prognosis.
The trial results demonstrated that patients treated with endovascular thrombectomy plus standard therapy had a significantly higher rate of functional independence at 90 days (58%) compared to those receiving medical therapy alone (42%), with a p-value less than 0.001 indicating strong statistical significance. Beyond the primary outcome, secondary endpoints such as neurological improvement and infarct volume reduction also favored the endovascular intervention group, confirming that the mechanical removal of clots in medium and distal vessels can effectively reduce the extent of brain tissue damage. Importantly, safety outcomes showed no significant increase in symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage or mortality rates between the two groups, alleviating concerns about procedural risks in smaller vessel thrombectomy. These findings strongly suggest that extending the indications for thrombectomy to carefully selected patients with medium or distal vessel occlusions could result in meaningful functional benefits without added safety risks, prompting a potential shift in stroke management guidelines.
The positive outcomes from this trial support the expansion of endovascular treatment indications to include medium and distal vessel occlusions, which traditionally posed challenges due to smaller vessel size and procedural complexity. This opens new avenues for improving clinical outcomes for a broader range of stroke patients, emphasizing the importance of advanced imaging and patient selection to identify eligible candidates. Future research is warranted to optimize device technology and procedural techniques tailored for these smaller vessels, as well as to assess long-term outcomes and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, integrating endovascular therapy into existing stroke protocols could enhance personalized treatment strategies, ultimately improving recovery and reducing disability on a population level.
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