• Timothy H Shore, Timothy J Harrington, Kenneth Faulder, and Brendan Steinfort.
• Department of Radiology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
• J Med Imaging Radiat Oncol. 2019 Feb 1; 63 (1): 33-39.

IntroductionStroke caused by basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is a rare but potentially devastating neurological condition, with poor outcomes and high mortality rates, approaching 70-90%. Success of intravenous and intra-arterial thrombolysis in BAO is variable, leading to Endovascular Therapy (EVT) being utilized to a greater degree in this clinical setting. We investigate the use of EVT in BAO with regard to success of revascularization and patient mortality/outcome.MethodsRetrospective patient data was collected from medical records and radiology information systems.ResultsTwenty-eight patients underwent EVT for BAO between 2010-17, with successful revascularization in 21/28 (75%) and an inpatient mortality rate of 39%. Successful revascularization correlated with lower mortality (P = 0.0001). Better revascularization and mortality rates occurred between 2013-17 (P = 0.007, 0.04). An average time to EVT of 16.8 hours was observed between 2010-17 but this did not correlate significantly with increased mortality. Basilar stenting correlated with lower revascularization, higher mortality and basilar artery reocclusion post EVT (P = 0.021, 0.022, 0.022). EVT times over 2 and 2.5 hours respectively associated with lower revascularization rates and higher mortality (P = 0.04, 0.022). Higher mortality was seen with intra-procedural complications and symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage, non-posterior circulation infarction and basilar artery reocclusion post EVT (P = 0.016, 0.03, 0.016, 0.016). Basilar atheroma correlated with intra-procedural complications and EVT times over 2 hours (P = 0.038, 0.004).ConclusionWithin the limitations of an underpowered study, we observed a benefit of EVT in acute BAO. With future multicentre trials, EVT will likely become the standard of care in acute BAO.© 2018 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

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