Endovascular therapy of acute ischemic stroke by interventional cardiologists: initial national experience

We report our initial experience with thrombectomy devices in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Demographic, clinical, and angiographic findings of 19 consecutive patients (7 females and 12 males; mean age 61.4±12.5 years) with acute ischemic stroke were evaluated retrospectively.

The mean initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 19.5±5.6. Middle cerebral artery was the occluded artery in all of the patients (proximal occlusion in 11, distal in 8 and tandem occlusions in 7 patients). Successful revascularization was achieved in 16 patients (84%). The mean NIHSS score was 8.4±8.2 at 24 hours after the procedure, and 60% of patients showed a modified Rankin scale score of ≤2 at 90 days. New occlusion by migrated emboli was observed in 2 (11%) cases. None of the patients had experienced post-procedural symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage; 3 patients died during the three-month follow-up. In all patients, thrombectomy was performed with retrievable Solitaire AB stent system.

This single-center experience with mechanical thrombectomy devices demonstrated that high success rates can be achieved by experienced interventional cardiologists in equipped cath labs throughout the country.