Thrombectomy Offers Hope for Basilar Artery Occlusion Patients with Mild Deficits

Thrombectomy for BAO is efficacious in patients with moderate-to-severe deficits. More data on its benefits for those with mild symptoms must be collected.

This was researched by an observational cohort design. US National Inpatient Sample (2018–2020) was queried for adult patients with BAO and NIHSS <10 for patients treated with thrombectomy versus medical management.

Routine discharge (home or self-care) was the primary outcome measured.

The main findings of the study are:

• There were 17 019 patients with basilar artery occlusion.
• 5795 patients met inclusion criteria, and 880 constituting 15.4%, were treated with endovascular thrombectomy.
• In the propensity score–matched cohort, 880 patients were treated with medical management and endovascular thrombectomy, respectively.
• Endovascular thrombectomy was associated with increased odds of routine discharge and reduced length of hospital stay than medical management.
• In the propensity score matched cohort, endovascular thrombectomy remained associated with greater odds of routine discharge, but there was no reported difference in length of hospital stay.

Concluding further, they said, based on our study findings, “Routine discharge was more common in BAO patients and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale <10 who underwent thrombectomy in comparison to conventional medical management.”

The findings of this study suggest that thrombectomy may be associated with better functional outcomes despite the lower National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and should be validated in a clinical trial setting.

Further reading:

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/STROKEAHA.123.043487