Endovascular therapy versus best medical treatment in pediatric acute ischemic stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Efficacy outcomes assessed were Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 0-2, mRS 0-1 and Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure (Pediatric Stroke Outcome Measure).

Safety outcomes included mortality, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH), any intracranial hemorrhage (aICH), hospital stay length and need for craniectomy.

In the all-comers analysis, endovascular therapy was associated with higher all-cause mortality (OR 3.00; 95% CI 2.23-4.02) and increased risk of aICH (OR 3.12; 95% CI 1.78-5.47); however, these signals were heavily confounded by baseline stroke severity.