Early Thrombectomy of a Proximal Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Leading to Complete Recovery with No Infarct

Many recent trials show the benefit of mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke caused by thrombi lodged in large arteries. We report the case of a 55-year-old patient who developed sudden-onset right-sided hemiplegia and aphasia. Computed tomography angiography showed a thrombus in the M1 segment of the left middle cerebral artery. The thrombus was removed by mechanical thrombectomy 85 min after the onset of symptoms. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan showed no infarct, and the patient was discharged symptom free. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of thrombectomy of a symptomatic proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion leading to complete rescue, both clinically and radiologically assessed by MRI. Our case report shows that an early thrombectomy can provide an excellent outcome.