Large ischemic strokes are usually treated with standard medical care, while small strokes are treated using thrombectomy . Thrombectomy is considered a high-risk therapy for patients with large strokes. However, only with standard medical care, large stroke patients may lose functional independence and suffer worsening conditions. To solve this issue, neurologists from the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, USA, evaluated the efficacy of thrombectomy in patients with large strokes.
Patients randomly received thrombectomy (n=178) and medical care (n=174). 20% of patients from the thrombectomy group and 7% of patients from the medical care group achieved functional independence. Moreover, 40% of patients from the thrombectomy group achieved ambulatory independence. However, thrombectomy group patients experienced arterial access-site complications, cerebral-vessel…
