Endovascular thrombectomy with or without intravenous thrombolysis in acute basilar artery occlusion ischemic stroke: A meta-analysis.

Introduction: It is poorly understood if endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) with or without intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) better facilitates clinical outcomes in patients with acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO) ischemic stroke.

Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was completed to investigate the outcomes of EVT with IVT versus direct EVT alone in acute BAO. Data was collected from the literature and pooled with the authors' institutional experience.

Approaches to and outcomes of intra-arterial tPA in embolectomy for large vessel occlusion.

Introduction: Intra-arterial tissue plasminogen activator (IA tPA) is sometimes used in conjunction with aspiration catheters and stentrievers to achieve recanalization in endovascular thrombectomy (ET) for large vessel occlusion (LVO). Reports of safety and efficacy of this approach are limited by technical heterogeneity and sample size.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a data set of patients undergoing ET for LVO between August 2017 and September 2020 to identify those that received IA tPA.