title: Endovascular thrombectomy for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke.
abstract: Few patients benefit from the current standard treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS), encouraging the development of new treatments.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To systematically review the literature on the efficacy and/or safety of endovascular thrombectomy in AIS compared to standard treatment and to identify ongoing randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Searches for RCTs were performed in Medline/Embase, and for ongoing trials: International Clinical Trial Registry Platform, Clinicaltrials.gov and ISRCTN registry (to June 15th, 2015).
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the eight published RCTs, five showed the superiority of treatment that includes thrombectomy compared to standard care alone. From the 13 ongoing RCTs, 3 have been halted, one has not started, one has unknown status and eight will end between 2016 - 2020.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence favours a combination of the standard therapy with endovascular thrombectomy. The selection criteria however limit the number of people who can benefit. Further studies are needed to prove its cost-effectiveness.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Educação e Ciências da Saúde, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cleusa P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Educação e Ciências da Saúde, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buehler
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Educação e Ciências da Saúde, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Uri Adrian Prync
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Flato
authors.affiliation: Centro de Intervenção Cardiovascular, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puglia Junior
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Educação e Ciências da Saúde, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jefferson G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D017131:Thrombectomy / Q000379:methods*; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator