Ischemic Postconditioning in Patients With Acute Stroke With Successful Recanalization After Endovascular Therapy: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
StrokeJul 16, 2026 (epub)
Yongbo Xu, Bohao Zhang, Shuling Liu et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This pilot randomized controlled trial investigated the effect of ischemic postconditioning (IPostC) on infarct growth in 60 patients with acute ischemic stroke who achieved successful recanalization after endovascular therapy. The study found that IPostC significantly reduced infarct growth from baseline to 48-hour MRI, with a median difference of -8.7 mL (95% CI, -17.1 to -1.4; P = 0.015).
Key findings
- IPostC reduced infarct growth from baseline to 48-hour MRI by a median of -8.7 mL (P = 0.015).
- Early infarct growth was lower with IPostC, showing a median difference of -3.2 mL (P = 0.045).
- Patients receiving IPostC had a lower NIH Stroke Scale score at 24 hours, with a median difference of -3.0 (P = 0.005).
- No significant difference in 90-day modified Rankin Scale scores was observed (P = 0.921).
Why it matters
The findings suggest that ischemic postconditioning may be a beneficial adjunctive therapy to reduce infarct growth in patients with acute ischemic stroke, potentially improving outcomes following endovascular thrombectomy.