Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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Letter Clinical Trial
Clinical and tissue response to intravenous thrombolysis in tandem internal carotid artery/middle cerebral artery occlusion: an MRI study.
The benefit of intravenous thrombolysis in tandem internal carotid artery (ICA)/middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion remains unclear. We studied clinical and imaging outcome of intravenous thrombolysis in MRI-selected patients with tandem ICA/MCA occlusion as compared to isolated MCA occlusion. ⋯ The presence of tissue at risk appears to play a key role for the likelihood of clinical recovery after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator treatment in acute stroke patients with tandem ICA/MCA occlusion. There appears to be no evidence to exclude patients with tandem ICA/MCA occlusion from intravenous thrombolysis.
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The prognosis of acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO) is poor if early recanalization is not achieved. Recanalization strategies include intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and intra-arterial thrombolysis, as well as endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (EMT). The combination of IVT with consecutive on-demand EMT may allow for early treatment initiation with high recanalization rates but has never been systematically tested in patients with BAO. ⋯ Our data suggest that the combination of IVT with on-demand consecutive EMT in BAO is feasible, allows for early treatment, and provides excellent recanalization rates.