{"title":"Endovascular therapy versus best medical treatment for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Maria-Ioanna Stefanou, Evangelos Panagiotopoulos, Lina Palaiodimou, Aikaterini Theodorou, George Magoufis, Stavros Spiliopoulos, Apostolos Safouris, Odysseas Kargiotis, Klearchos Psychogios, Tatiana Sidiropoulou, Frantzeska Frantzeskaki, Panayiotis D Mitsias, Katharina Feil, Annerose Mengel, Marios Themistocleous, Ulf Ziemann, Georgios Tsivgoulis","doi":"10.1177/23969873251324863","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Evidence on endovascular therapy (EVT) for symptomatic intracranial stenosis (sICAS) from randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) is conflicting. While prior RCTs on percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) demonstrated harm or no benefit over best medical treatment (BMT), recent data suggest that submaximal balloon angioplasty with BMT may be superior to BMT alone.</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of elective EVT plus BMT compared to BMT alone for sICAS.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Six RCTs (5 on PTAS and 1 on balloon-angioplasty) comprising 1606 patients were included. EVT increased the risk of any stroke or death (RR = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.72-4.19; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 0%), ischemic stroke within the territory of the qualifying artery (RR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.36-4.61; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 0%), any ischemic stroke (RR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.17-3.38; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 0%), intracranial hemorrhage (RR = 6.23; 95% CI: 1.92-20.2; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 0%), and mortality (RR = 3.52; 95% CI: 1.04-11.88; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 0%) within 30 days. No significant benefit from EVT was detected regarding the risk of any stroke or death (RR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.06-1.38; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 68%), ischemic stroke in the territory of the qualifying artery (RR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.14-1.33; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 59%) and mortality (RR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.16-1.55; <i>I</i><sup>2</sup> = 0%) beyond 30 days through 1 year.</p><p><strong>Discussion and conclusion: </strong>EVT is associated with adverse early outcomes, without reducing the risk of long-term stroke recurrence or mortality compared to BMT. Further research is warranted to identify high-risk subgroups who may benefit from EVT for sICAS and refine interventions to minimize periprocedural risks.</p>","PeriodicalId":46821,"journal":{"name":"European Stroke Journal","volume":" ","pages":"23969873251324863"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11907567/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Stroke Journal","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969873251324863","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Evidence on endovascular therapy (EVT) for symptomatic intracranial stenosis (sICAS) from randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) is conflicting. While prior RCTs on percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) demonstrated harm or no benefit over best medical treatment (BMT), recent data suggest that submaximal balloon angioplasty with BMT may be superior to BMT alone.
Patients and methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of elective EVT plus BMT compared to BMT alone for sICAS.
Results: Six RCTs (5 on PTAS and 1 on balloon-angioplasty) comprising 1606 patients were included. EVT increased the risk of any stroke or death (RR = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.72-4.19; I2 = 0%), ischemic stroke within the territory of the qualifying artery (RR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.36-4.61; I2 = 0%), any ischemic stroke (RR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.17-3.38; I2 = 0%), intracranial hemorrhage (RR = 6.23; 95% CI: 1.92-20.2; I2 = 0%), and mortality (RR = 3.52; 95% CI: 1.04-11.88; I2 = 0%) within 30 days. No significant benefit from EVT was detected regarding the risk of any stroke or death (RR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.06-1.38; I2 = 68%), ischemic stroke in the territory of the qualifying artery (RR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.14-1.33; I2 = 59%) and mortality (RR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.16-1.55; I2 = 0%) beyond 30 days through 1 year.
Discussion and conclusion: EVT is associated with adverse early outcomes, without reducing the risk of long-term stroke recurrence or mortality compared to BMT. Further research is warranted to identify high-risk subgroups who may benefit from EVT for sICAS and refine interventions to minimize periprocedural risks.
期刊介绍:
Launched in 2016 the European Stroke Journal (ESJ) is the official journal of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), a professional non-profit organization with over 1,400 individual members, and affiliations to numerous related national and international societies. ESJ covers clinical stroke research from all fields, including clinical trials, epidemiology, primary and secondary prevention, diagnosis, acute and post-acute management, guidelines, translation of experimental findings into clinical practice, rehabilitation, organisation of stroke care, and societal impact. It is open to authors from all relevant medical and health professions. Article types include review articles, original research, protocols, guidelines, editorials and letters to the Editor. Through ESJ, authors and researchers have gained a new platform for the rapid and professional publication of peer reviewed scientific material of the highest standards; publication in ESJ is highly competitive. The journal and its editorial team has developed excellent cooperation with sister organisations such as the World Stroke Organisation and the International Journal of Stroke, and the American Heart Organization/American Stroke Association and the journal Stroke. ESJ is fully peer-reviewed and is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Issues are published 4 times a year (March, June, September and December) and articles are published OnlineFirst prior to issue publication.