Endovascular Thrombectomy Outcomes of Stroke in Children

A new study from Australia showed children with ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion (LVO) who had endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) were 6 times less likely to have moderate-to-severe disability at 3 months poststroke compared with those who did not have EVT. 

In this study of 39 children with LVO, 13 had EVT and 26 did not. Those who did not have EVT had worse outcomes (high physical disability) compared both with the 13 children who had EVT and another 127 who had ischemic stroke without LVO. 

“We were surprised by how common large vessel blockage is in children with stroke and how much worse the disabilities were among the children who did not receive mechanical clot removal, compared to those who did,” said Kartik Bhatia, MBBS, PhD, MS, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network. “Now that we know how poor recovery is for these children who did not receive EVT, it is much easier to justify treatment options like clot removal for children with a LVO-related stroke.”
 
The study included 166 children, mean age 6 years, (65% boys) treated for stroke from 2010 to 2019. Just under 25% had LVO, similar to the rate found in adults. The study results were presented at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2022. The conference was held in person in New Orleans and virtually, February 9-11, 2022.