Many patients without extensive ischemia on baseline imaging can recover well with aggressive modern stroke care.
Basilar artery occlusion traditionally has been considered a catastrophe with a high rate of poor outcomes. To gauge the effects of modern treatment and the predictive utility of baseline imaging, investigators at a single academic center studied a consecutive series of patients who underwent aggressive attempts at basilar artery recanalization between 1995 and 2012.
Of 184 patients with basilar artery occlusion, 95% received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), and 97% of these also received full-dose intravenous heparin. Less than 10% underwent endovascular therapy. Many patients (40%) were treated within 6 hours of stroke onset, but 16% received treatment after 24 hours. Partial or complete recanalization occurred in 68% of the…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresSpeaker’s bureauGenentech
Grant / Research supportNational Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Michael Goldberg Stroke Research Fund
Editorial boardsPLOS One; Scientific Reports
Leadership positions in professional societiesNeurocritical Care Society (Research Committee Member)
DisclosuresSpeaker’s bureauGenentech
Grant / Research supportNational Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Michael Goldberg Stroke Research Fund
Editorial boardsPLOS One; Scientific Reports
Leadership positions in professional societiesNeurocritical Care Society (Research Committee Member)