Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Intracerebral Hemorrhage Evacuation
Published on: October 15, 2021
Rapid intracranial clot removal with a new device: the alligator retriever
C W Kerber1, I Wanke, J Bernard
1Department of Neuroradiology, University of California, San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA. kaos@ucsd.edu
Background And Purpose:
Despite availability of an approved drug to treat acute cerebral ischemia, most patients with stroke do not realize a good outcome. A method that would rapidly increase or restore cerebral perfusion before irreversible cell death should improve patient outcomes.
Materials And Methods:
We recently had the opportunity to treat 6 middle-aged-to-elderly patients who presented with signs and symptoms of acute cerebral ischemia, by mechanically removing their (predominantly) middle cerebral artery clots by using a new retrieval device that had been previously approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for intravascular retrieval of foreign bodies. During a 2-month period, the 6 patients were treated in 5 separate institutions. No patient had an unsuccessful attempt at clot removal. The cases were collected by personal communication with each operator.
Results:
In all instances, use of the device resulted in rapid clot removal. Each patient had a large improvement in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. Two of the 6 patients had experienced failure of another clot retrieval device, and 3 patients required no systemic thrombolytics, reducing the likelihood of one of the most feared complications of stroke therapy, intracranial hemorrhage.
Summary:
We believe that use of this device may result in improved outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke. In our limited experience, it provided a rapid, safe, and effective means for achieving revascularization.
