Endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke is generally avoided when the infarction is large, but the effect of endovascular therapy with medical care as compared with medical care alone for large strokes has not been well studied. We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized clinical trial in Japan involving patients with occlusion of large cerebral vessels and sizable strokes on imaging, as indicated by an Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomographic Score (ASPECTS) value of 3 to 5 (on a scale from 0 to 10, with lower values indicating larger infarction). Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive endovascular therapy with medical care or medical care alone within 6 hours after they were last known to be well or within 24 hours if there was no early change on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. Alteplase (0.6 mg per kilogram of body weight) was used when appropriate in both groups. The primary outcome was a modified Rankin scale score of 0 to 3 (on a scale from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater disability) at 90 days. Secondary outcomes included a shift across the range of modified Rankin scale scores toward a better outcome at 90 days and an improvement of at least 8 points in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score (range, 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater deficit) at 48 hours. A total of 203 patients underwent randomization; 101 patients were assigned to the endovascular-therapy group and 102 to the medical-care group. Approximately 27% of patients in each group received alteplase. The percentage of patients with a modified Rankin scale score of 0 to 3 at 90 days was 31.0% in the endovascular-therapy group and 12.7% in the medical-care group (relative risk, 2.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35 to 4.37; P=0.002). The ordinal shift across the range of modified Rankin scale scores generally favored endovascular therapy. An improvement of at least 8 points on the NIHSS score at 48 hours was observed in 31.0% of the patients in the endovascular-therapy group and 8.8% of those in the medical-care group (relative risk, 3.51; 95% CI, 1.76 to 7.00), and any intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 58.0% and 31.4%, respectively (P<0.001). In a trial conducted in Japan, patients with large cerebral infarctions had better functional outcomes with endovascular therapy than with medical care alone but had more intracranial hemorrhages. (Funded by Mihara Cerebrovascular Disorder Research Promotion Fund and the Japanese Society for Neuroendovascular Therapy; RESCUE-Japan LIMIT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03702413.)

Background Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is necessary to prevent thromboembolic complications after stent-assisted coiling (SAC) or flow-diversion (FD) for cerebral aneurysms, but the optimal antiplatelet regimen remains unclear. Objective To determine the optimal DAPT duration in patients with SAC/FD. Methods This multicenter cohort study enrolled patients who received SAC/FD for cerebral aneurysms at seven Japanese institutions between January 2010 and December 2020. The primary outcome was the time from procedure to the occurrence of a composite of target vessel-related thromboembolic events, procedure-unrelated major bleeding events, or death. The cumulative event-free survival rates were analyzed using a Kaplan–Meier curve, and the differences in each outcome between the groups dichotomized by the duration of DAPT were analyzed using the log-rank test. Results Of 632 patients (median observational period, 646 days), primary outcome occurred in 63 patients (10.0%), most frequently within 30 days after the procedure. The cumulative event-free survival rates at 30 days, 1 year, and 2 years after the procedure were 93.3% (91.4 to 95.3%), 91.5% (89.3 to 93.7%), and 89.5% (87.0 to 92.0%), respectively. The cumulative event-free survival rates after switching to monotherapy were similar for the >91 and <90 days DAPT groups in the population limited to patients who were switched from DAPT to monotherapy without major clinical events. Conclusions Thromboembolic events rarely occurred beyond 30 days after SAC/FD. The duration of DAPT may be shortened if patients have a periprocedural period without events. Further prospective studies are warranted to determine the optimal duration of antiplatelet therapy. Trial registration number UMIN000044122 :https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000050384.

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is less invasive and has a lower incidence of systemic complications such as myocardial infarction compared with carotid endarterectomy. However, CAS is known to have a high incidence of ischemic complications due to distal thromboembolism. Progress has been made in the development of various distal protection devices and protection methods aimed at preventing thromboembolism. Similar to these methods, perioperative antiplatelet therapy is also able to play a very important role in the prevention of ischemic events. Dual antiplatelet therapy has become standard for perioperative management of CAS.

The incidence of convulsion and associated factors were retrospectively analyzed in 23 patients with symptomatic cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) who underwent a total of 31 intra-arterial infusion of fasudil hydrochloride (IAFH) procedures in 49 vessels. Fasudil hydrochloride was administered by superselective infusion via a microcatheter positioned at the proximal portion of the affected artery. Thirteen procedures were performed by manually controlled infusion of 30-75 mg fasudil hydrochloride (1.2-3.75 mg/ml) for approximately 10 minutes. Eighteen procedures were performed by continuous infusion of 60 mg fasudil hydrochloride (1.2 mg/ml) by infusion pump at a constant rate of 3 mg/min. Neurological improvement was observed after 18 of 22 procedures in patients with neurological deterioration due to vasospasm. Convulsion during IAFH developed in 4 patients, all treated by manual infusion (p < 0.05). The manual infusion method (p < 0.05) and infusion rate greater than 3 mg/min (p < 0.01) were significantly associated with the incidence of convulsion during IAFH. IAFH was effective for treating cerebral vasospasm following aneurysmal SAH. IAFH at a constant rate of 3 mg/min delivered by infusion pump improved the symptoms of cerebral vasospasm and prevented convulsions during IAFH.