WEDNESDAY, Aug. 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) — New eligibility criteria may increase rates of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in the United States, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery, held from July 31 to Aug. 4 in San Diego.
Osman Mir, M.D., from the Texas Stroke Institute in Plano, and Deep Pujara, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., from the University Hospitals Neurological Institute in Cleveland, estimated the potential increase in EVT procedures based on trial eligibility criteria established in the RESCUE Japan, SELECT2, and ANGEL-ASPECT trials. The analysis included nationwide inpatient admissions with diagnosis of ischemic stroke due to anterior circulation large vessel occlusions (carotid and/or middle cerebral artery) between 2016 to 2019.
The researchers found that EVT procedures performed in patients with a documented carotid or middle cerebral artery occlusion increased from 13,185 in 2016 to 29,640 in 2019. When applying clinical trial criteria to the 2019 EVT cases for anterior circulation large vessel occlusions, 9,330 additional EVTs would be performed for magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted image ASPECTS <6 (excluding patients with ASPECTS 0 to 2) and 5,283 additional EVTs would be performed using diffusion-weighted image core ≥70 mL criteria (excluding patients with ASPECTS 0 to 2).
“These outcomes are inspiring, and this information gives us an important opportunity to evaluate current stroke treatment efforts across the country,” Mir said in a statement. “In addition, these numbers clearly show that we need to invest more fully in our capacity to ensure that every stroke patient across the United States can access this high-quality treatment if — or when — they need it.”
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