뇌졸중에 대한 후기 혈전제거술에서 세레브로리신 탐색: BBB 바이오마커 및 이미징 통찰력 (CARE-EVT)

This is an investigator-initiated, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, participant- and outcome-assessor-blinded proof-of-concept trial conducted at three stroke centers within the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital system in Taiwan.

The study will enroll 100 participants aged 18 to 80 years with anterior-circulation acute ischemic stroke caused by internal carotid artery or M1/M2 middle cerebral artery occlusion. Eligible participants must undergo endovascular thrombectomy more than 6 hours and no more than 24 hours after stroke onset and must achieve successful reperfusion, defined as modified Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction grade 2b or 3, before randomization.

Participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive Cerebrolysin 30 mL diluted in 70 mL normal saline or matched normal saline placebo. Study treatment will be administered intravenously over 60 minutes once daily for 10 consecutive days and will begin after randomization and within 36 hours of stroke onset. Both groups will receive standard post-thrombectomy stroke care, secondary prevention, and rehabilitation.

The primary outcome is final infarct volume measured on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging performed on Day 7 to Day 10. The key secondary clinical outcome is functional independence, defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2, at Month 3. Other outcomes include ordinal modified Rankin Scale, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Barthel Index, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, asymptomatic hemorrhagic transformation, cerebral edema, recurrent stroke, all-cause mortality, vessel patency, cognition, language, and mood through Month 12.

Mechanistic assessments will evaluate blood-brain barrier injury. Computed tomography perfusion-derived blood-brain barrier permeability will be measured before thrombectomy and approximately 24 hours after reperfusion. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging will assess subacute permeability on Day 7 to Day 10. Plasma Claudin-5, an exploratory marker of endothelial tight-junction injury, will be measured at groin puncture before reperfusion, 24 hours after reperfusion, and on Day 7.

The trial is designed to determine whether adjunctive Cerebrolysin reduces tissue-level injury and provides biological signals consistent with preservation of blood-brain barrier integrity after successful extended-window thrombectomy. The study is not powered to establish definitive clinical efficacy, and clinical and mechanistic secondary analyses will be considered exploratory.