Endovascular Therapy for Basilar Artery Occlusion Still Formally Unproven

The evidence for efficacy of endovascular therapy for large-vessel ischemic stroke is based on trials that enrolled mainly patients with anterior circulation strokes. The distinct and often severe clinical presentations and natural history of basilar artery occlusion stroke and a paucity of data from randomized trials for this specific group have contributed to uncertainty about whether the successes seen in treating anterior circulation stroke are generalizable to the posterior circulation. Researchers now report the long-anticipated results of BASICS, a randomized trial of endovascular therapy versus medical management for basilar artery occlusion within 6 hours of symptom onset. The initial eligibility criteria only allowed for enrolling…