Effect of an individualized versus standard blood pressure management during mechanical thrombectomy for anterior ischemic stroke: the DETERMINE randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Hypotension and blood pressure (BP) variability during endovascular therapy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to an anterior large vessel occlusion (LVO) is associated with worse outcomes. However, the optimal BP threshold during EVT is still unknown given the lack of randomized controlled evidence. We designed the DETERMINE trial to assess whether an individualized BP management during EVT could achieve better functional outcomes compared to a standard BP management. METHODS: The DETERMINE trial is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled, open-label, blinded endpoint clinical trial (PROBE design). AIS patients with a proximal anterior LVO are randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to an experimental arm in which mean arterial pressure (MAP) is maintained within 10% of the first MAP measured before EVT, or a control arm in which systolic BP (SBP) is maintained within 140–180 mm Hg until reperfusion is achieved or artery closure in case of EVT failure. The primary outcome is the rate of favorable functional outcomes, defined by a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) between 0 and 2 at 90 days. Secondary outcomes include excellent outcome and ordinal analysis of the mRS at 90 days, early neurological improvement at 24 h (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale), final infarct volume, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage rates, and all-cause mortality at 90 days. Overall, 432 patients will be included. DISCUSSION: DETERMINE will assess the clinical relevance of an individualized BP management before reperfusion compared to the one size fits all approach currently recommended by international guidelines. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04352296. Registered on 20th April 2020. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-022-06538-9.