Intravenous Thrombolysis and Endovascular Therapy for Childhood Stroke Appear Feasible

The evidence for intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke is largely based on studies in adults. Applying these data to childhood arterial ischemic stroke requires some extrapolation because conducting similar studies in children presents particular challenges. Adequate sample sizes are more difficult to achieve, pediatric care is more regionalized (which can lead to transport delays for hyperacute care), and some clinicians may consider equipoise to be lacking given strong data from studies in adults. One attempted randomized, controlled trial of thrombolysis for pediatric stroke, the Thrombolysis in Pediatric Stroke study, was shut down for failure to recruit. In the present study, researchers identified…