Edaravone plus compound cerebroside in elderly patients with carotid plaque cerebral infarction: Efficacy and...

To evaluate the clinical efficacy, long-term prognosis and recovery of cognitive function of the elderly patients with carotid plaque massive cerebral infarction (CPMCI) who did not receive reperfusion therapy.

A multi-center, retrospective, single-arm design was adopted in this study, and 184 elderly patients with CPMCI who received the combined treatment of Edaravone, dextromethorphan and compound cerebroside from January 2021 to December 2023 were included. Main outcome measures include modified Rankin scale (mRS) score and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Secondary outcome measures included Barthel index, Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) score, recurrent stroke rate, survival rate and complications. The follow-up time was 1 year.

After 6 months of treatment, 54.9 % patients achieved functional independence (mRS≤2), defined as a Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of ≤ 2. The NIHSS score significantly decreased from a mean of 16.52 ± 4.23 at baseline to 5.78 ± 3.19 at six months (P < 0.001). Additionally, both the Barthel Index and MoCA scores showed significant improvements (P < 0.001). The one-year recurrent stroke rate was 13.59 %, while the one-year survival rate was 77.7 %. Treatment-related complications were primarily mild to moderate, including aspiration pneumonia (10.87 %) and urinary tract infections (5.97 %), resulting in a total incidence of 16.85 %.

Edaravone, dextran and compound cerebroside combination therapy has a significant clinical effect on elderly CPMCI patients without reperfusion therapy, which can improve their functional independence, neurological function, activities of daily living and cognitive function, with acceptable safety.