Abstract Body: Introduction: Despite the proven effectiveness of endovascular therapy (EVT) in acute ischemic strokes (AIS) involving anterior circulation large vessel occlusions, isolated posterior cerebral artery (PCA) occlusions (iPCAo) remain underexplored in clinical trials. This study investigates the comparative effectiveness and safety of EVT against medical management (MM) in patients with iPCAo.
Methods: This multinational, multicenter propensity score-weighted study analyzed data from the Multicenter Analysis of primary Distal medium vessel occlusions: effect of Mechanical Thrombectomy (MAD-MT) registry, involving 37 centers across North America, Asia, and Europe. We included iPCAo patients treated with either EVT or MM. The primary outcome was the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days, with secondary outcomes including functional independence, mortality, and safety profiles such as hemorrhagic complications.
Results: A total of 177 patients were analyzed (88 MM and 89 EVT). Baseline characteristics were balanced using Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (IPTW). EVT showed a statistically significant improvement in 90-day mRS scores (OR=0.55, 95% CI=0.30 to 1.00, P=0.048), functional independence (OR=2.52, 95% CI=1.02 to 6.20, P=0.045), and a reduction in 90-day mortality (OR=0.12, 95% CI=0.03 to 0.54, P=0.006) compared to MM. Hemorrhagic complications were not significantly different between the groups.
Conclusion: EVT for iPCAo is associated with better neurological outcomes and lower mortality compared to MM, without an increased risk of hemorrhagic complications. These findings emphasize on the potential benefits of EVT in this understudied patient group, highlighting the need for randomized controlled trials to further validate these results.