Clinical and radiological predictors of recanalisation: time to define a rapid scoring system
- Correspondence to: S Husain NeuroEndoVascular Therapy Section, Department of Neurosurgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi 110060, India; drshsify.com
Factors that predict basilar artery occlusion outcome
Acute basilar artery occlusion is a known cause of brain stem infarction that is often fatal. The most physiological way of treating this condition is recanalisation of the occluded artery to revascularise endangered ischemic brain. Thrombolysis by intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) brings substantial clinical benefit in acute stroke, however, a large number of patients do not respond to this treatment. Intra-arterial thrombolysis may improve overall outcome in patients with basilar artery occlusion but predicting benefit of therapy is still difficult in the individual patient. The crucial issue in acute basilar artery occlusion is defining the predictors for successful recanalisation and improved outcome.
Arnold et al1 (pp 857) have tried to define clinical and radiological predictors of recanalisation and outcome in acute basilar artery occlusion. They found that a low National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and vessel recanalisation (as seen on the angiogram) were associated with a favourable outcome. Complete …
