Abstract 137: Endovascular Intervention versus Standard Medical Therapy for Patients Presenting with Large Acute Ischemic Strokes - A Large Single Center Experience

Abstract

Objective. Endovascular interventions for acute ischemic stroke have been widely adopted on the basis of single-arm registries that reported high recanalization rates with limited complications. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to compare the clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent endovascular treatment with patients who were treated with standard medical therapy alone at our institution. Methods. The study group consisted of two cohorts of patients with acute ischemic stroke over a 4-year period: 260 patients underwent endovascular treatment and 597 patients were treated with best medical therapy alone. All patients from the medical group presented with a NIHSS score of >8 and were ineligible for IV tPA. Clinical outcomes at discharge and at 3 months were compared. Results. Compared with the medical group, the endovascular group had a significantly greater proportion of patients who were discharged home (21.2% vs 8.7%, p<0.001) and who could ambulate independently at discharge (32.1% vs 16.8%, p<0.001). Of the patients with follow-up, the proportion of patients with a good outcome (mRS score of <=2) at 3 months was also significantly higher in the endovascular group (51.9% vs 35.7%, p<0.05). Conversely, the endovascular group had a significantly smaller proportion of patients who was discharged to nursing home (11.9% vs 24.1%, p<0.01) and hospice (6.9% vs 14.1%, p=0.003). Mortality rate at discharge was not different (21.2% vs 18.9%, p=0.451). The rate of symptomatic ICH was 9.2% in the intervention group. Conclusion. In our study, endovascular therapy provides a better functional outcome compared with standard medical therapy in select patients. Ultimately, determination of efficacy of endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke compared with best medical therapy will depend on results of randomized trials.