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(Stroke. 2006;37:2206.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Treatment and Clinical Outcome in Patients With Basilar Artery Occlusion

Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Christine Wijman, MD

Department of Neurology, Stanford Stroke Center, Stanford, Calif, USA

Patrik Michel, MD

Department of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland

On behalf of the BASICS investigators
To the Editor:

We read with great interest the recent article by Lindsberg and Mattle¹ in which they found, in a review of published case series, that patients with basilar artery occlusion treated with intra-arterial and intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) have similar outcomes.

We wonder whether they also compared their 2 groups with patients treated with antithrombotic therapy alone (antiplatelets or anticoagulation). In a recent retrospective 3-center study of 82 patients with basilar artery occlusion this treatment resulted in a similar case fatality rate of 40% as reported after intra-arterial thrombolysis and IVT.²

In our view, a randomized clinical trial is needed to resolve the problem concerning which treatment should be preferred for basilar occlusion. For the best design of such a trial, we need clinical and radiological characteristics that help select patients who are most likely to benefit from acute interventions. For this purpose we initiated the BASICS (BASilar artery International Cooperation Study) registry, a worldwide, multicenter, prospective, observational study of patients with symptomatic, radiologically confirmed, basilar artery occlusion. Since November 2002, 280 patients have been included from 30 participating centers. Overall, 54% of patients have been treated with intra-arterial therapy, 8% with IVT, and 38% with antithrombotic therapy. We hope to have reached our target number of 500 patients in the next 2 years. New participating centers are welcome to join.

Acknowledgments

Disclosure

None.

References

1. Lindsberg PJ, Mattle HP. Therapy of basilar artery occlusion. A systematic analysis comparing intra-arterial and intravenous thrombolysis. Stroke. 2006; 37: 922–928.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

2. Schonewille WJ, Algra A, Serena J, Molina C, Kappelle LJ. Outcome in patients with basilar artery occlusion treated conventionally. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2005; 76: 1238–1241.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 37/9/2206    most recent 01.STR.0000237127.84408.c0v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schonewille, W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schonewille, W.