Aspiration-based Thrombectomy Alone As Effective As Thrombectomy with Stent Retriever in Treating LVO Stroke? [Study]

Picture of Hannah Ostrem Hannah Ostrem : Jan 15, 2018

Research published recently in JAMA Neurology sought to answer whether there were significant differences in treatment outcomes of a stent retriever combined with local aspiration-based mechanical thrombectomy versus aspiration-based thrombectomy alone in large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke.

The authors performed a randomized clinical trial of 198 patients and found no significant difference in safety or effectiveness between aspiration-assisted stent retrieval and direct aspiration for stroke intervention.

These findings add to the argument that treatment effects of mechanical thrombectomy devices in large-vessel acute ischemic stroke (AIS) remain unclear. Further research is needed to understand whether aspiration-assisted mechanical thrombectomy should be the standard of care for LVO, or whether reducing the number of treatment steps and using direct aspiration alone is more beneficial.

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