Influence of tirofiban on stroke outcome after mechanical thrombectomy in acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion

BACKGROUND: Even undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT), patients with acute vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (AVBAO) still have a high rate of mortality. Tirofiban is a novel antiplatelet agent which is now widely empirically used in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tirofiban as adjunctive therapy for MT in AVBAO. METHODS: From October 2016 to July 2021, consecutive AVBAO patients receiving MT were included in the prospective stroke registry. The short-term outcomes were (1) symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH); (2) in-hospital death; (3) National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at discharge. The Long-term outcomes were: (1) modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 3 months; (2) death at 3 months. RESULTS: A total of 130 eligible patients were included in the study, 64 (49.2%) patients received tirofiban. In multivariate regression analysis, no significant differences were observed in all outcomes between the tirofiban and non-tirofiban group [sICH (adjusted OR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.12–7.82, p = 0.97), in-hospital death (adjusted OR 0.57; 95% CI, 0.17–1.89, p = 0.36), NIHSS at discharge (95% CI, -2.14–8.63, p = 0.24), mRS (adjusted OR 1.20; 95% CI, 0.40–3.62, p = 0.75), and death at 3 months (adjusted OR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.24–2.90, p = 0.77)]. CONCLUSIONS: In AVBAO, tirofiban adjunctive to MT was not associated with an increased risk of sICH. Short-term (in-hospital death, NIHSS at discharge) and long-term outcomes (mRS and death at 3 months) seem not to be influenced by tirofiban use.