The effect of age on outcome after intra-arterial treatment in acute ischemic stroke : A MR CLEAN pretrial study

Contains fulltext : 171716.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) BACKGROUND: In recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) intra-arterial treatment (IAT) has been proven effective and safe for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). So far, there seemed to be no interaction between older age (>80) and main treatment effect. We studied the association of older age with outcome and adverse events after IAT in a cohort of intra arterially treated patients. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Data from all AIS patients with proven proximal anterior circulation cerebral artery occlusion who were intra arterially treated between 2002 until the start of the MR CLEAN trial were studied retrospectively. Duration of the procedure, recanalization (Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction score (TICI)), early neurological recovery (i.e. decrease on NIHSS of >/= 8 points) after one week or at discharge, good functional outcome at discharge by modified Rankin Scale (mRS