Endovascular thrombectomy plus intravenous thrombolysis versus endovascular thrombectomy alone for large ischemic stroke

Background: Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is the gold standard for eligible acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO). A few trials studied EVT in AIS-LVO with large ischemic infarcts. We investigated the impact of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) on EVT outcomes in those patients. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist and Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews and Interventions. We searched 4 databases and performed our analysis utilizing a pooled risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Three studies investigated EVT with and without IVT in AIS-LVO patients with large ischemic infarcts. Regarding the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0–2 at 3 months, there was a statistically significant difference favoring EVT plus IVT (RR: 1.48, 95%CI: 1.27, 1.72, P < 0.00001). In respect of mRS score of 0–3, the analysis also favored EVT plus IVT (RR: 1.25, 95%CI: 1.11, 1.41, P = 0.0003). Regarding early neurological improvement (ENI) at 24 and 36 hours, our analysis favored EVT plus IVT (RR: 1.16, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.34, P = 0.03). In terms of mortality, our analysis favored EVT plus IVT (RR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.77, 1, P = 0.04). There was no difference between the two groups across different types of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Conclusion: Our results showed a beneficial impact of IVT on the outcomes of EVT in AIS-LVO patients with large ischemic infarcts in terms of functional outcomes and ENI. IVT was also associated with a lower mortality rate but not with an increased risk of ICH. Larger studies are needed to corroborate such results.