Acute stroke thrombectomy: evidence and indications

Abstract

From 2014 to 2015, the five pivotal stroke trials (MR CLEAN, ESCAPE, EXTEND-IA, SWIFT PRIME and REVASCAT) have shown that stroke thrombectomy clearly improved functional outcome of patients with occlusion of the internal carotid artery or the M1 portion of the middle cerebral artery, with a baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of ≥6, with a baseline Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomography Score of ≥6, and who could receive thrombectomy within a 6-hour window of symptom onset. In 2018, the efficacy of stroke thrombectomy for patients with late-presenting stroke up to 16 to 24 hours of onset and who had clinical imaging mismatch or target mismatch was also established by the DAWN and the DEFUSE3 trials. Nowadays, stroke thrombectomy, therefore, have become a "standard of care" and acute stroke patients with large vessel occlusion should receive stroke thrombectomy if they meet top-tier evidence criteria.