Mechanical Thrombectomy in Stroke. Experience from Switching from Stent Retriever Only to Stent Retriever Combined with Aspiration Catheter

Endovascular treatment is a rapidly evolving technique; therefore, there is a constant need to evaluate this method and its modifications. This paper discusses a single-center experience and the results of switching from the stent retriever only (SO) mechanical thrombectomy (MT) to the combined approach (CA), with a stent retriever and aspiration catheters. Methods: The study involved a retrospective analysis of 70 patients undergoing MT with the use of either SO or CA. The primary endpoint was the frequency of perfect reperfusion defined as grade 3 of the modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction scale (mTICI) after the first pass. The secondary endpoints were the procedure success, defined as mTICI grades 2b-3; time of the procedure; clinical outcome, measured by 90 days’ modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score; Δ NIHSS, defined as the difference between National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at patients’ admission and discharge; and the total number of device passes. Results: Out of the 70 patients included, 33 were treated with SO and 37 with CA. In both groups, a total number of 42 patients received intravenous recombined tissue plasminogen activator (iv-rTPA: 20 patients (60.6%) in the SO group and 22 patients (59.5%) in the CA group (p = 1.000). There was a significant difference between the groups regarding first-pass success rate, with 46% in the CA group and 18% in the SO group, (OR 3.83, 95% CI 1.28 to 11.44, p = 0.016). Complete procedure success tended to be more frequent in the CA group than in the SO group—94.6% vs. 84.8% (OR 3.13, 95% CI 0.56 to 17.34, p = 0.193)—and CA tended to require a lower number of passes than SO (mean 1.76 vs. 2.09 passes per procedure, p = 0.114), yet these differences did not reach statistical significance. Mean duration of the procedure was significantly shorter in the CA group than in the SO group (49 min vs. 64 min, p = 0.017). There was a significant difference in clinical outcomes, with higher Δ NIHSS (9.3 in the CA group vs. 6.7 in the SO group, p = 0.025) after the procedure and 90-day mRS (median 2 in the CA group vs. 4 in the SO group, p = 0.031). Conclusions: Combining stent retrievers with aspiration catheters may offer a beneficial effect on angiographic results and clinical outcomes in stroke patients undergoing endovascular treatment.