Medscape: Thrombectomy benefits stroke with large core volumes

Results of a new international trial showed performing endovascular thrombectomy in stroke patients with a large ischemic core is beneficial.

Endovascular thrombectomy is a minimally invasive procedure for acute ischemic stroke patients that uses a catheter to remove a blood clot from a blood vessel in the brain, which restores blood flow. Patients with strokes with a large ischemic core were previously not considered candidates for thrombectomies because of concerns of an increased risk of hemorrhage, disability and death.

Joseph Broderick, MD, professor in UC’s Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine in the College of Medicine, director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute and a UC Health physician, told Medscape the study results were "robust and important."

The results of the trial "will change practice and extend endovascular therapy to more patients with severe strokes," Broderick continued. However, he noted imaging will still be necessary to exclude a certain subset of patients with large ischemic core who were not included in the trials.

"These are patients who have very large areas of clear hypodensity on the baseline image (brain already dying or dead)," Broderick said. "These patients do not benefit from reperfusion with lytic drugs or endovascular therapy."

Read the Medscape article. (Note: Account creation or log-in may be required to view full article.)

Featured photo at top of brain scans. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC Marketing + Brand.