Endovascular Treatment for Small Core and Proximal Occlusion Ischemic Stroke

The purpose of the study is to understand whether a new treatment of stroke - endovascular clot removal - can be added to the current standard of care to improve patient outcomes. All patients will receive the best standard stroke treatment. This includes treating patients with the clot dissolving drug tPA (tissue plasminogen activator). However, t-PA does not work in some patients and others are not eligible to receive t-PA because they present too late for treatment (they woke up with their stroke symptoms or their stroke was not witnessed). During endovascular revascularization the blockage in the artery is removed with the use of devices called stentreivers and or by giving clot dissolving drug at the site of the blockage in the artery to restore blood flow. Stentrievers are devices that have been designed by different companies to remove blood clots from arteries. Up to a maximum of 500 people at 20-25 hospitals across Canada and other countries will participate in this study.