Endovascular management of acute symptomatic intracranial arterial occlusion.

OBJECTIVE: Acute ischemic stroke has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting approximately 700,000 people annually. With the recent technological advancements in endovascular devices, clinicians now have tools capable of recanalizing acute intracranial occlusions. The combination of pharmacological thrombolysis and mechanical clot perturbation may result in increased rates of angiographic recanalization, which may lead to improvement in patient outcomes after acute stroke. METHODS: In this article, the various intra-arterial pharmacological and mechanical therapies used by interventionists to treat acute stroke are described. Strategies for using combinations of these therapies are discussed, as are preliminary radiographic and clinical outcomes. Techniques for complex mechanical stroke interventions are discussed in detail. RESULTS: Several advances in endovascular stroke technologies are becoming increasingly available. CONCLUSION: With proper patient selection, these therapies may lead to increased recanalization rates and better patient outcomes.