ESOC 2022 | Thrombectomy associated with significant benefits in basilar artery occlusion… what’s next?

Data presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference 2022 demonstrated the significant functional outcome benefit of thrombectomy over best medical management for patients with acute ischemic stroke with basilar artery occlusion (ATTENTION; NCT04751708). Raul Nogueira, MD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, shares his thoughts on the next steps needed to take this work further. One such goal is to expand the indications of endovascular thrombectomy. The ATTENTION trial enrolled Asian participants, so questions remain regarding the generalizability of these data to wider populations. Investigations into efficacy in later time windows are also under way. The BAOCHE trial (NCT02737189) treated patients with thrombectomy within 6-24 hours of symptom onset, demonstrating that thrombectomy in late-presenting BAO stroke has similar efficacy to early presenting patients. The ongoing POST-ETERNAL trial (NCT05105633) is assessing an extended time window for intravenous thrombolysis. This interview took place at European Stroke Organisation Conference 2022 in Lyon, France.