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Importance: Whether endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) efficacy for patients with acute ischemic stroke and large cores varies depending on the extent of ischemic injury is uncertain., Objective: To describe the relationship between imaging estimates of irreversibly injured brain (core) and at-risk regions (mismatch) and clinical outcomes and EVT treatment effect., Design, Setting, and Participants: An exploratory analysis of the SELECT2 trial, which randomized 352 adults (18-85 years) with acute ischemic stroke due to occlusion of the internal carotid or middle cerebral artery (M1 segment) and large ischemic core to EVT vs medical management (MM), across 31 global centers between October 2019 and September 2022., Intervention: EVT vs MM., Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcome was functional outcome-90-day mRS score (0, no symptoms, to 6, death) assessed by adjusted generalized OR (aGenOR; values >1 represent more favorable outcomes). Benefit of EVT vs MM was assessed across levels of ischemic injury defined by noncontrast CT using ASPECTS score and by the volume of brain with severely reduced blood flow on CT perfusion or restricted diffusion on MRI., Results: Among 352 patients randomized, 336 were analyzed (median age, 67 years; 139 [41.4%] female); of these, 168 (50%) were randomized to EVT, and 2 additional crossover MM patients received EVT. In an ordinal analysis of mRS at 90 days, EVT improved functional outcomes compared with MM within ASPECTS categories of 3 (aGenOR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.04-2.81]), 4 (aGenOR, 2.01 [95% CI, 1.19-3.40]), and 5 (aGenOR, 1.85 [95% CI, 1.22-2.79]). Across strata for CT perfusion/MRI ischemic core volumes, aGenOR for EVT vs MM was 1.63 (95% CI, 1.23-2.16) for volumes ≥70 mL, 1.41 (95% CI, 0.99-2.02) for ≥100 mL, and 1.47 (95% CI, 0.84-2.56) for ≥150 mL. In the EVT group, outcomes worsened as ASPECTS decreased (aGenOR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.82-1.00] per 1-point decrease) and as CT perfusion/MRI ischemic core volume increased (aGenOR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.89-0.95] per 10-mL increase). No heterogeneity of EVT treatment effect was observed with or without mismatch, although few patients without mismatch were enrolled., Conclusion and Relevance: In this exploratory analysis of a randomized clinical trial of patients with extensive ischemic stroke, EVT improved clinical outcomes across a wide spectrum of infarct volumes, although enrollment of patients with minimal penumbra volume was low. In EVT-treated patients, clinical outcomes worsened as presenting ischemic injury estimates increased., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03876457.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: AS reports serving as the Principal Investigator (PI) for SELECT, SELECT2, a site PI for DEFUSE 3, and a speaker bureau and advisory board member in Stryker. MR reports serving as a site PI and steering committee member for SELECT2, and holds consulting agreement for Medtronic, Stryker, Cerenovus, Anaconda Biomed, Apta Targets, Sanofi, and reports serving as a speakers bureau member for: Philips, UCB Pharma, Ischemia View, and reports ownership in Anaconda Biomed, and Methinks. MSH reports receiving fees for consulting for Cerenovus, and reports serving as a member on DSMB for Rapid Medical, and DSMB for Cerenovus, and a steering committee member and a site PI for SELECT2. MGL reports serving as a steering committee member for SELECT2, and PI for DEFUSE 3. BY reports serving as a co-PI for SELECT2 and DIRECTS SAFE. JFA reports having received honoraria as speaker/consultant for the following companies: BI, Pfizer, Daiichi, Bayer, Amgen, and Medtronic; and reports serving as a site PI on SELECT2. The institutions where JFA works have received research funding from Spanish Ministry of Economy, European Comission, and Castilla y León Departments of Health and Education. JMO receives consulting fees from Aptoll, Abbvie, Medtronic, and reports receiving speaker fees from Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb. LE reports serving as a site PI on SELECT2 and a sonsultant for Cerenovus, Medtronic, VizAI, Microvention, and Scientia. AA reports serving as a speaker bureau member and consultant for NovaSignal, Longeviti, and Siemens. NW Manning reports serving as a site PI on SELECT2, and a consultant for Balt, Stryker, Microvention and Medtronic. CWS reports serving as an Imaging Core Lab member for SELECT and SELECT2. SEK reports serving as a site PI on SELECT2, and reports receiving consultant fees from Medtronic, receiving grants non-relevant to this work from WL Gore, Medtronic, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and other fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb (consultant), Abbvie (consultant), UpToDate (royalties), and Elsevier (royalties). ASA reports serving as a consultant for Balt, Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic, Microvention, Penumbra, Scientia, Siemens, Stryker, and reports receiving research support from Balt, Medtronic, Microvention, Penumbra, and Siemens, and is a shareholder at Azimuth, Bendit, Cerebrotech, Endostream, Magneto, Marblehead, Mentice, Neurogami, Serenity, Synchron, Triad Medical, and Truvic. MP reports research partnership with Siemens, Apollo Medical Imaging, and Canon; and reports serving as an advisory boards member for Medtronic, Boehringer Ingelheim. AEH reports serving as a consultant/speaker for Medtronic, Microvention, Stryker, Penumbra, Cerenovus, Genentech, GE Healthcare, Scientia, Balt; a site PI on SELECT2 and COMPLETE study – Penumbra, LVO SYNCHRONISE; steering committee/publication committee member for SELECT, DAWN, SELECT2, EXPEDITE II, EMBOLISE, CLEAR; a Proctor for Pipeline, FRED, Wingspan, and Onyx; and is supported by grants from GE Healthcare, Valley Baptist. GWA reports serving as a steering committee member for SELECT2, PI for DEFUSE 3, and reports receiving consulting fees for iSV and Genentech and has equity interest in iSV. BC, MGA, MC, SB, RFB, NPO, TW, JB, MM, JS, JPT, NS, OK, DG, SW, DC, and TJK report serving as site PIs for SELECT2. VMP, GT, PJ, and JCG report no relevant disclosures and no conflicts of interest to this work.

Methods Results Interpretation Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) was shown to be safe and efficacious in patients with large core stroke in multiple randomized controlled trials. However, the impact of reperfusion and other procedural metrics on EVT outcomes in this population has not been well‐characterized.From the SELECT2 trial, we evaluated the association between reperfusion status, first‐pass effect (near‐complete or complete reperfusion [extended thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (eTICI) 2c‐3] in 1 pass), procedure time and primary technique (aspiration vs stent‐retriever) with functional outcomes in patients receiving EVT across ASPECTS (3 vs 4 vs 5) and core estimate strata (<70 vs ≥70ml, <100 vs ≥100ml, and <150 vs ≥150ml).Of 180 patients who received thrombectomy, 144 (80%) achieved successful reperfusion (eTICI 2b‐3) and demonstrated better clinical outcomes (adjusted generalized odds ratios [aGenOR]: 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–2.15), compared with unsuccessful reperfusion. Results were consistent across ASPECTS and core estimate strata. Additionally, complete or near‐complete reperfusion (eTICI 2c‐3) was associated with better functional outcome (aGenOR: 1.99, 95% CI: 1.33–2.97) in patients achieving successful reperfusion. Functional outcome point estimates favored those with first‐pass‐effect (42 of 167 (25%), aGenOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 0.96–2.24). Longer procedure time was associated with worse modified Rankin scale (mRS) distribution (aGenOR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87–0.96, p‐value = 0.001 for 10 minutes increment). Aspiration‐first technique was used in 43 of 154 (25%) patients and was not associated with higher reperfusion (88% vs 78%, p = 0.18) or better functional outcome (aGenOR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.50–1.10) as compared with stent‐retriever first.Successful reperfusion resulted in improved clinical outcomes in large core patients across baseline ischemic core strata. Near complete or complete reperfusion was further associated with better outcomes, whereas prolonged procedures were associated with worse outcomes. Results were consistent regardless of the technique used. ANN NEUROL 2024 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple randomised trials have shown efficacy and safety of endovascular thrombectomy in patients with large ischaemic stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term (ie, at 1 year) evidence of benefit of thrombectomy for these patients. SELECT2 was a phase 3, open-label, international, randomised controlled trial with blinded endpoint assessment, conducted at 31 hospitals in the USA, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. Patients aged 18–85 years with ischaemic stroke due to proximal occlusion of the internal carotid artery or of the first segment of the middle cerebral artery, showing large ischaemic core on non-contrast CT (Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomographic Score of 3–5 [range 0–10, with lower values indicating larger infarctions]) or measuring 50 mL or more on CT perfusion and MRI, were randomly assigned, within 24 h of ischaemic stroke onset, to thrombectomy plus medical care or to medical care alone. The primary outcome for this analysis was the ordinal modified Rankin Scale (range 0–6, with higher scores indicating greater disability) at 1-year follow-up in an intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03876457) and is completed. The trial was terminated early for efficacy at the 90-day follow-up after 352 patients had been randomly assigned (178 to thrombectomy and 174 to medical care only) between Oct 11, 2019, and Sept 9, 2022. Thrombectomy significantly improved the 1-year modified Rankin Scale score distribution versus medical care alone (Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney probability of superiority 0·59 [95% CI 0·53–0·64]; p=0·0019; generalised odds ratio 1·43 [95% CI 1·14–1·78]). At the 1-year follow-up, 77 (45%) of 170 patients receiving thrombectomy had died, compared with 83 (52%) of 159 patients receiving medical care only (1-year mortality relative risk 0·89 [95% CI 0·71–1·11]). In patients with ischaemic stroke due to a proximal occlusion and large core, thrombectomy plus medical care provided a significant functional outcome benefit compared with medical care alone at 1-year follow-up. Stryker Neurovascular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]