Endovascular treatment has been shown to significantly increase the reperfusion rate and improve the functional outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion.^1-4 However, endovascular thrombectomy has historically failed to yield successful reperfusion in approximately 30% of patients.⁵ Unsuccessful reperfusion likely arises in part from mechanical thrombectomy devices causing traumatic damage to the vascular endothelium with subendothelial matrix exposure, leading to platelet activation, adhesion, and aggregation and potentially resulting in reocclusion and thromboembolic complications.^6,7

Background and Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the impact of baseline posterior circulation Acute Stroke Prognosis Early Computed Tomography Score (pc-ASPECTS) on the efficacy and safety of endovascular therapy (EVT) for patients with acute basilar artery occlusion. Methods: The BASILAR was a nationwide prospective registry of consecutive patients with a symptomatic and radiologically confirmed acute basilar artery occlusion within 24 hours of symptom onset. We estimated the effect of standard medical therapy alone (SMT group) versus SMT plus EVT (EVT group) for patients with documented pc-ASPECTS on noncontrast CT, both as a categorical (0–4 versus 5–7 versus 8–10) and as a continuous variable. The primary outcomes included favorable functional outcomes (modified Rankin Scale ≤3) at 90 days and mortality within 90 days. Results: In total, 823 cases were included: 468 with pc-ASPECTS 8 to 10 (SMT: 71; EVT: 397), 317 with pc-ASPECTS 5 to 7 (SMT: 85; EVT: 232), and 38 with pc-ASPECTS 0 to 4 (SMT: 13; EVT: 25). EVT was associated with higher rate of favorable outcomes (adjusted relative risk with 95% CI, 4.35 [1.30–14.48] and 3.20 [1.68–6.09]; respectively) and lower mortality (60.8% versus 77.6%, P =0.005 and 35.0% versus 66.2%, P< 0.001; respectively) than SMT in the pc-ASPECTS 5 to 7 and 8 to 10 subgroups. Continuous benefit curves also showed the superior efficacy and safety of EVT over SMT in patients with pc-ASPECTS ≥5. Furthermore, the prognostic effect of onset to puncture time on favorable outcome with EVT was not significant after adjustment for pc-ASPECTS (adjusted odds ratio, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.94–1.02]). Conclusions: Patients of basilar artery occlusion with pc-ASPECTS ≥5 could benefit from EVT. The baseline pc-ASPECTS appears more important for decision making and predicting prognosis than time to EVT. Registration: URL: http://www.chictr.org.cn . Unique identifier: ChiCTR1800014759.

Importance: It is uncertain whether intravenous methylprednisolone improves outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion (LVO) undergoing endovascular thrombectomy.Objective: To assess the efficacy and adverse events of adjunctive intravenous low-dose methylprednisolone to endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke secondary to LVO.Design, Setting, and Participants: This investigator-initiated, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was implemented at 82 hospitals in China, enrolling 1680 patients with stroke and proximal intracranial LVO presenting within 24 hours of time last known to be well. Recruitment took place between February 9, 2022, and June 30, 2023, with a final follow-up on September 30, 2023.Interventions: Eligible patients were randomly assigned to intravenous methylprednisolone (n = 839) at 2 mg/kg/d or placebo (n = 841) for 3 days adjunctive to endovascular thrombectomy.Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary efficacy outcome was disability level at 90 days as measured by the overall distribution of the modified Rankin Scale scores (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]). The primary safety outcomes included mortality at 90 days and the incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 48 hours.Results: Among 1680 patients randomized (median age, 69 years; 727 female [43.3%]), 1673 (99.6%) completed the trial. The median 90-day modified Rankin Scale score was 3 (IQR, 1-5) in the methylprednisolone group vs 3 (IQR, 1-6) in the placebo group (adjusted generalized odds ratio for a lower level of disability, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.96-1.25]; P = .17). In the methylprednisolone group, there was a lower mortality rate (23.2% vs 28.5%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.71-0.98]; P = .03) and a lower rate of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (8.6% vs 11.7%; adjusted risk ratio, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.55-0.99]; P = .04) compared with placebo.Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with acute ischemic stroke due to LVO undergoing endovascular thrombectomy, adjunctive methylprednisolone added to endovascular thrombectomy did not significantly improve the degree of overall disability.Trial Registration: ChiCTR.org.cn Identifier: ChiCTR2100051729

Importance: The optimal dose, safety, and efficacy of intra-arterial tenecteplase after successful reperfusion by endovascular thrombectomy for large vessel occlusion (LVO) is unknown.Objective: To evaluate the dose-dependent adverse events and signals of efficacy of intra-arterial tenecteplase in LVO after successful reperfusion with thrombectomy, defined as an Extended Treatment in Cerebral Infarction score of 2b-3.Design, Setting, and Participants: This open-label, blinded-outcome assessment trial, incorporating a 14 + 8 dose-escalation (phase 1b, nonrandomized) and dose-expansion (phase 2a, randomized) design, was conducted in China between 2023 and 2024, with follow-up continuing through November 2024. This was a multicenter clinical trial including patients with LVO and successful reperfusion within 24 hours of last known well.Interventions: In phase 1b, intra-arterial tenecteplase, 0.0313, 0.0625, 0.1250, 0.1875 mg/kg; in phase 2a, intra-arterial tenecteplase 0.0313 or 0.0625 mg/kg, or control (without intra-arterial thrombolysis).Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome in phase 1b was symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) within 24 hours. The primary outcome in phase 2a was 90-day no-disability outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 0-1).Results: A total of 205 patients (phase 1b: 48, phase 2a: 157) were enrolled and analyzed. The median (IQR) age was 71 (60-77) years, and 113 (55.1%) were male. In phase 1b, 1 of 14 and 2 of 22 patients with sICH were observed at dose tiers 0.0313 and 0.0625 mg/kg, respectively. Three of 12 patients had sICH at dose tier 0.1250 mg/kg, exceeding the prespecified safety threshold (P = .04). In phase 2a, eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive tenecteplase, 0.0313 mg/kg (n = 46) and 0.0625 mg/kg (n = 46), and 65 patients composed the control group. The primary outcome occurred in 22 of 65 patients (33.8%) in the control group, 17 of 46 patients (37.0%) in the tenecteplase, 0.0313 mg/kg, group (adjusted risk ratio [RR] vs control, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.54-1.35; P = .50), and 20 of 46 patients (43.5%) in the tenecteplase, 0.0625 mg/kg, group (adjusted RR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.73-1.80; P = .55). No significant difference in the safety outcomes was observed among the 3 groups.Conclusions and Relevance: Results of this phase 1 and 2 randomized clinical trial reveal that adjunctive intra-arterial tenecteplase dosages of 0.0313 mg/kg or 0.0625 mg/kg after successful reperfusion in patients with anterior circulation LVO showed adequate safety to advance to larger trials to determine the potential therapeutic benefits.Trial Registration: ChiCTR.org.cn Identifier: ChiCTR2300073787 and ChiCTR2400080624

Although acute basilar artery occlusion (ABAO) is an infrequent ischemic stroke, accounting for a small proportion (approximately 1%) of all ischemic strokes and 5% to 10% of strokes resulting from large vessel occlusion,^1,2 it usually represents a disastrous disease associated with high rates of disability and mortality.^1-3 Given that standard medical treatment (SMT) alone is associated with insufficient recanalization rates and poor outcomes among patients with ABAO, endovascular therapy (EVT) has recently been regarded as a promising therapeutic approach for ABAO.^2,4 Since 2006, several studies^5-8 of the efficacy and safety associated with EVT in ABAO have found results suggesting that EVT may be associated with safe and effective improvements in clinical outcomes and decreased mortality among patients with ABAO. However, the Basilar Artery International Cooperation Study (BASICS) and Basilar Artery Occlusion Chinese Endovascular Trial (BEST) study did not find sufficient evidence of a difference in favorable outcomes among patients receiving EVT compared with those receiving SMT,^2,9,10 but the latest results of the BASICS randomized clinical trial may not exclude a substantial benefit of EVT.¹⁰ Encouragingly, our cohort study (Endovascular Treatment for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Study [BASILAR]) found that EVT was associated with better functional outcomes and decreased mortality within 24 hours among patients with ABAO.¹¹ In a hopeful finding, the latest study, by Nappini et al from 2021,¹² found that patients with ischemic stroke due to BAO treated with bridging and direct EVT had decreased mortality and better functional outcome in ordinal analysis at 3 months compared with other studies. These complicated findings suggest that the efficacy of EVT may be associated with clinical severity in ABAO.