Previous and Recent Evidence of Endovascular Therapy in Acute Ischemic Stroke

The ideal therapy of acute ischemic stroke is achieved by early recanalization that finally leads to good clinical outcome. The recombinant intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) within 4.5 hours was approved as an important thrombolytic treatment. However, the recanalization rate was low in patients with a large artery occlusion. The efficacy of intravenous rtPA regarding recanalization of a large artery occlusion was limited. In several clinical trials, pharmacological and mechanical intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy showed improved recanalization rates, but the favorable outcome had not been achieved. Through those trials and errors, researchers have learned that speed of treatment initiation, patient selection by documentation of large artery occlusion and the use of effective devices could be crucial for good clinical outcomes. Finally, five recent randomized controlled trials of endovascular therapy compared to standard medical care have been published. The superiority of endovascular thrombolysis to standard medical care was proved. In this article, we reviewed previous and recent clinical evidence about endovascular thrombolytic therapy of acute ischemic stroke.