Angioplasty and/or stenting following successful mechanical thrombectomy for intracranial atherosclerosis-related emergent large vessel occlusive stroke (ASSET): protocol of a multicentre randomised trial.

RATIONALE

The management of residual stenosis after mechanical thrombectomy in patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis-related emerge large vessel occlusive (ICAS-LVO) stroke is still unclear question in clinical practice.

AIM

To demonstrate the design of a clinical trial on emergency balloon angioplasty and/or stenting (BAS) combined with standard medical treatment (SMT) for residual stenosis of ICAS-LVO stroke patients with successful recanalisation.

DESIGN

ASSET is a multicentre, prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded end-point, controlled clinical trial designed (PROBE) by investigators. This trial evaluates the effectiveness and the safety of emergency BAS in combination with SMT compared with SMT alone in ICAS-LVO stroke patients with successful recanalisation (defined as expanded treatment in cerebral ischaemia grade of 2b50-3 and maintained for more than 20 min) and residual stenosis (defined as ≥50%) up to 24 hours after the onset of symptoms or the last known well.

OUTCOME

The primary outcome assessed at 90 (±7) days after randomisation is the incidence of ischaemic stroke in the responsible vessel. Symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage within 24 (±3) hours is the primary safety outcome.

DISCUSSION

The ASSET trial is designed to provide strong evidence on the effectiveness and safety of emergency BAS to treat residual stenosis after successful recanalisation in patients with ICAS-LVO stroke.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ChiCTR2300079069.