Study Suggests New Eligibility Criteria May Increase Rate of Thrombectomies for Stroke in United States

August 8, 2023—Rates of endovascular thrombectomy in the United States are projected to increase dramatically based on new criteria, according to a study, “Projected Increase in Thrombectomy Volume Based on Large Core Trials,” by Osman Mir, MD, et al. The study showed that endovascular thrombectomy improved clinical outcomes in patients with large ischemic strokes, which has the potential to affect hospitals across the country and require new planning efforts to accommodate these additional patient needs.

The findings were presented at SNIS 2023, the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s 20th annual meeting held July 31 to August 4 in San Diego, California.

As noted in the SNIS press release, recent studies have suggested that endovascular thrombectomy is a viable option for treating large ischemic strokes, opening up the potential for more people to receive this care.

In this study, the investigators reviewed nationwide hospital admission data from 2016–2019 for patients who were classified as having an ischemic stroke. Using the new eligibility criteria for large ischemic strokes, the investigators reclassified some patients who did not receive stroke surgery as new candidates for the surgery.

The investigators’ projections showed that these new eligibility criteria could increase rates of thrombectomies in the United States by 14% to 37%. These additional interventions present new opportunities for patients to get the correct care, but also may prove difficult to manage for hospitals without sufficient neurointerventionalists on staff to perform these procedures, noted the study.

“These outcomes are inspiring, and this information gives us an important opportunity to evaluate current stroke treatment efforts across the country,” commented Dr. Mir in the SNIS press release. “In addition, these numbers clearly show that we need to invest more fully in our capacity to ensure that every stroke patient across the United States can access this high-quality treatment if—or when—they need it.”

Dr. Mir is a vascular and interventional neurologist at Texas Stroke Institute in Arlington, Texas.