Your patient is a middle-aged female with multiple comorbidities
who presents with sudden onset of right-sided weakness and difficulty speaking
x 1 hour. Her head CT demonstrates a hyperdense left MCA. On exam, she is found
to have a dense right hemiparesis, neglect and aphasia, for an NIHSS of 17. The
team decides to administer tPA. An hour later, her exam is not improved. The
neurology stroke team is very concerned, and wants to wheel the patient off to the
neurointerventional suite for a thrombectomy.
Clinical Question:
How effective is thrombectomy in the treatment of acute ischemic
stroke?
