Intra-Arterial Thrombolysis Vs. Mechanical Thrombectomy in Acute Minor Ischemic Stroke Due to Large Vessel Occlusion

The efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute large vessel occlusion (LVO) patients with minor stroke (NIHSS ≤ 5) remains undetermined. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) alone vs. MT for LVO patients with minor stroke.

Patients were selected from the Acute Ischemic Stroke Cooperation Group of Endovascular Treatment (ANGEL) registry, a prospective multicenter registry study, and divided into MT and IAT alone groups. We compared the outcome measures between the two groups, including 90-day functional outcome evaluated by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), the final recanalization level, intracranial hemorrhage, and mortality within 90-days by logistic regression models with adjustment. Besides the conventional multivariable analysis, we performed a sensitivity analysis by adjusting the propensity score to confirm our results. The propensity score was derived using a logistic regression model.

Of the 120 patients, 63 received IAT alone and 57 received MT as the first-line treatment strategy. As compared to MT group, patients in the IAT alone group were associated with a higher chance of 90-day mRS 0-2 [93.7% vs. 71.9%, odds ratio (OR) = 4.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20-18.80, P = 0.027], a high chance of 90-day mRS 0-3 (96.8% vs. 86.7%, OR = 11.35, 95% CI: 1.93-66.86, P = 0.007), a shorter median time from puncture to recanalization (PTR) (60 min vs. 100 min, β = -63.70, 95% CI: -81.79- -45.61, P < 0.001), a lower chance of any intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) within 48 h (3.2% vs. 19.3%, OR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.03-0.79, P = 0.025), and a lower chance of mortablity within 90 days (1.6% vs. 9.2%, OR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01-0.57, P = 0.016). Similarly, the sensitivity analysis showed the robustness of the primary analysis.

Compared with MT, IAT may improve 90-day clinical outcomes with decreased ICH rate and mortality in LVO patients with minor stroke.