Intended Bridging Therapy or Intravenous Thrombolysis Alone in Minor Stroke With Basilar Artery Occlusion

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Whether bridging therapy (intravenous thrombolysis [IVT] followed by mechanical thrombectomy) is superior to IVT alone in minor stroke with basilar artery occlusion remains uncertain. METHODS: Multicentric retrospective observational study of consecutive minor stroke patients (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≤5) with basilar artery occlusion intended for IVT alone or bridging therapy. Propensity-score weighting was used to reduce baseline between-groups differences, and residual imbalance was addressed through adjusted logistic regression, with excellent outcome (3-month modified Rankin Scale score 0-1) as the dependent variable. RESULTS: =0.03). No patient experienced symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that bridging therapy may be superior to IVT alone in minor stroke with basilar artery occlusion.