Balami JS, et al. - In this systematic review and a meta-analysis involving 2,423 patients in eight studies, researchers assessed the efficacy of endovascular thrombectomy vs best medical care for treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The research demonstrated overwhelming proof of enhanced functional results for endovascular therapy (EVT) over medical treatment alone. EVT did not boost the incidence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage and demonstrated marginal proof of decreased 90-day mortality, confirming the safety of the technique. In the subgroup analysis of randomized controlled trial trials, where >50% of EVT patients had mechanical thrombectomy, the benefit of EVT on functional independence was even more pronounced. EVT should be thought of as a primary therapeutic choice for eligible AIS patients in addition to IV thrombolysis, due to the considerable evidence of functional outcome improvement with no increase in incidence of adverse effects.