Mechanically assisted intra-arterial thrombolysis in acute cerebral infarction

The aim of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of mechanically assisted thrombolysis in the treatment of acute cerebral infarction. Mechanically assisted intra-arterial urokinase thrombolysis was conducted on 28 patients with acute cerebral infarction with a disease onset time of 90–450 min. The maximum level of urokinase was 1,150,000 units. Thrombus disruption with a microwire, retrieval with a microcatheter and stent-assisted revascularization were performed. The recanalization rate, bleeding complications and modified Rankin scale (mRS) score were observed within 3 months of surgery. Our results showed that mechanically assisted thrombolysis was successfully conducted on 23 patients, with a recanalization rate of 82.1% (23/28), average recanalization time of 65.22 min and mRS score ≤3.5. Five cases of recanalization were invalid, including 2 cases of mortality, 1 case with an mRS score of 4 and 2 cases with an mRS score ≤3. In the recanalization group, the mechanically assisted thrombolysis did not increase the number of bleeding complications. Our study demonstrated that the safety of mechanically assisted thrombolysis for the treatment of acute cerebral infarction is equivalent to that of simple intra-arterial thrombolysis, but that the former has a higher efficiency. Mechanically assisted thrombolysis is able to reduce the urokinase dosage and recanalization time, and increase the recanalization rate.