{
  "abstract": "Background and purpose While endovascular therapy (EVT) is established for acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO), the clinical value of remedial angioplasty or stenting (RAS) is debated. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of RAS in patients with BAO undergoing EVT, the etiology dependent outcomes (atherosclerotic vs non-atherosclerotic outcomes), and the comparative effectiveness of balloon angioplasty versus stent based strategies.Methods In this post hoc analysis of the prospective ATTENTION (Trial of Endovascular Treatment of Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion) multicenter trial, 221 patients with BAO receiving EVT were grouped into RAS (n=104) versus non-RAS groups (n=117). RAS included balloon angioplasty, stenting, or combined approaches. The primary outcome was 90 day favorable outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 0–3). Safety outcomes included any intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and symptomatic ICH (sICH) at 24–72 hours, and 90 day mortality. Inverse probability of treatment weighting balanced baseline covariates, followed by multivariate logistic or ordinal regression for outcomes. Prespecified subgroup analyses by stroke etiology included interaction tests using stratified regression.Results RAS showed no significant benefit for 90 day favorable outcomes (adjusted OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.19, P=0.282) despite lower ICH rates (OR 0.52, 0.28 to 0.92, P=0.027). RAS was associated with worse outcomes in non-atherosclerotic patients (P=0.003 for stroke etiology × RAS interaction), with no such effect in atherosclerotic cases. Balloon angioplasty alone showed comparable efficacy to stent based interventions (P=0.373).Conclusion RAS did not improve functional outcomes in BAO overall and was associated with worse outcomes in non-atherosclerotic patients. Atherosclerotic subgroups may derive nuanced benefit, although further research is needed. Etiology tailored EVT strategies are warranted, with balloon angioplasty as a viable initial remedial option.Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04751708",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China"
      ],
      "name": "Zhiliang Guo"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xuehan Liu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Encephalopathy, Suzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Suzhou, China"
      ],
      "name": "Shuhong Yu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China"
      ],
      "name": "Chunrong Tao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China"
      ],
      "name": "Pengfei Xu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China"
      ],
      "name": "Chao Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China"
      ],
      "name": "Wei Hu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China"
      ],
      "name": "Guodong Xiao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [],
      "name": "On behalf of the ATTENTION Trial Investigators"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Remedial angioplasty or stenting in acute basilar artery occlusion: post hoc analysis of ATTENTION trial",
  "uid": "3143ee83-a497-5722-b812-d9ab0b2e9d56"
}