In this small single-center retrospective study of 69 patients with acute anterior cerebral artery occlusion, EVT showed high reperfusion success but was not associated with a statistically significant improvement in 90-day functional outcomes compared with best medical treatment.
EVT achieved a high rate of successful reperfusion in patients with acute anterior cerebral artery occlusion.
The study population was small, with 69 patients divided between treatment groups.
Excellent functional outcome (90-day mRS 0-1) did not differ significantly between EVT and BMT after adjustment.
Secondary functional and mortality outcomes did not differ significantly between EVT and BMT.
Safety outcomes, including intracranial hemorrhage, did not differ significantly between EVT and BMT.
Inverse probability of treatment weighting sensitivity analyses gave results consistent with the primary adjusted analysis.
The authors conclude that further multicenter studies are needed to clarify the role of EVT in anterior cerebral artery occlusion.
This study looked at patients who had a stroke caused by a blockage in the anterior cerebral artery, a less common type of large-vessel stroke. Researchers at one hospital compared 69 patients: 37 treated with best medical treatment (such as medication) and 32 treated with endovascular treatment (EVT), in which a clot is removed through a catheter. The procedure successfully reopened the blocked artery in about 84% of those treated with EVT. Despite the high reopening rate, EVT was not linked to a statistically significant improvement in recovery at 90 days. About 46% of the medical treatment group and 41% of the EVT group had an excellent outcome (little or no disability). After statistical adjustment for differences between the groups, the results remained inconclusive. Rates of death and brain bleeding also did not differ significantly between the groups. This research suggests that it remains unclear whether EVT offers added benefit for this type of stroke. The study was small, retrospective, and done at a single center, so it could miss real differences, and the wide confidence interval means both benefit and harm remain possible. The authors call for larger multicenter studies to clarify the role of EVT.
Wan X, Lei B, Tang K, Liu H, Yang Y, Liu W, et al.. (2026). Endovascular treatment versus best medical treatment for acute anterior cerebral artery occlusion: a single-center inverse probability of treatment-weighted cohort study.. Frontiers in neurology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2026.1896249