The Recovery by Endovascular Salvage for Cerebral Ultra-Acute Embolism–Japan Large Ischemic Core Trial. RESCUE-JAPAN Limit

OBJECTIVES	To evaluate the effect of endovascular therapy with medical care, as compared with medical care alone, in patients with acute ischemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion and a large ischemic region, defined as an ASPECTS value of 3 to 5. ASPECTS values of 2 or lower were not evaluated because they have extensive infarction and are unlikely to regain functional independence.
STUDY	Open-label, parallel-group, randomized clinical trial conducted in 45 hospitals in Japan.
POPULATION	Patients of 18 years old or older presenting with ischemic stroke and NIHSS ≥ 6 were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive endovascular therapy with medical care or medical care alone within 6 hours of last known well with ASPECTS 3-5 or within 24 hours if there was no early change on FLAIR sequence.
ENDPOINTS	The primary outcome was a score of 0 to 3 on the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. Secondary outcomes included a mRS of 0 to 2, an mRS of 0 or 1, and an ordinal shift across the range of mRS scores toward a better outcome at 90 days, and an improvement of at least 8 points on the NIHSS at 48 hours after randomization.