In the last decade, Intra-Arterial (IA) stroke therapy (a technique in which thrombolytic agents and devices are passed through the arteries directly to the clot site) has gained notable momentum as an effective and safe treatment option for patients. Two new studies released at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery 12th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, further reinforce the value and progress of IA treatment with conclusions that the innovative new devices that facilitate this approach are reducing treatment times, improving outcomes and decreasing mortality rates.
Since Stent Retrievers — the latest evolution of devices for IA treatment — became available in 2012, no comparative analysis with pre-retriever devices has been conducted to determine differences in utilization or clinical outcomes. In the Trends and Outcomes of Mechanical Thrombectomy in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Review of National In-Patient Database, joint investigators, Drs. Srikanth Boddu and Ning Lin, at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, New York, used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to analyze outcomes across three generations of devices: 2006-2007 (Post-MERCI); 2008-2011 (Post-Penumbra); and 2012 (Stent Retrievers).
