Thrombectomy plus medical care led to improved functional outcomes and reduced mortality compared with only medical care, according to new research. For the LASTE study, 333 patients from France and Spain with proximal cerebral vessel occlusion in the anterior circulation and a large infarct were assigned in a 1:1 ratio and within 6.5 hours of symptom onset to either thrombectomy plus medical care or medical care alone. At 90 days, the median modified Rankin scale score – the primary outcome - was 4 in the thrombectomy group and 6 in the medical care only group. The primary safety outcome – death from any cause at 90 days – occurred more often in the control group, with rates of 36.1% in the thrombectomy group and 55.5% in the control group. Symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage occurred more often in the thrombectomy group, with rates of 9.6% vs. 5.7% in the medical care only group. The thrombectomy group also had 11 procedure-related complications. Due to results of similar trials favoring thrombectomy, the trial was stopped early. The researchers note that about 35% of the patients underwent thrombectomy.