ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Now that mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke has proven itself to be a lifesaving therapy for many patients the bar is getting higher. Today’s goal is to restore the best possible quality of life to even more patients under the best economic scenario. To achieve this end, device innovators are pursuing several strategies, chief among them helping operators to get clots out on the first pass, which is linked to better outcomes.
It’s been less than five years since, beginning with MR CLEAN, a series of landmark trials validated the role of clot-removing (thrombectomy) devices that can open up large vessel occlusions in the anterior circulation of patients experiencing acute ischemic stroke. But the field is moving fast.
