Recruiting

Thrombectomy Platform

Sponsor:

Medical University of South Carolina

Code:

NCT06289985

Conditions

Ischemic Stroke

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Endovascular thrombectomy with any FDA-approved category POL or NRY device

Medical Management

Study Details

Brief summary:

STEP is a Randomized, Multifactorial, Adaptive Platform trial that seeks to optimize the care of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to large (LVO) or medium vessel occlusions (MVO).

Conditions

Ischemic Stroke

Study ID

NCT06289985

Start date

Jan 31, 2025

Status verified date

Dec, 2025

Completion date

Jan 31, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan 31, 2029

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

STEP PLATFORM INCLUSION CRITERIA:

1. Suspected diagnosis acute ischemic stroke
2. Likely causative intracranial large or medium vessel occlusion

STEP PLATFORM EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

1. Proven contraindication to endovascular thrombectomy
2. Prisoners/incarcerated

DOMAIN-SPECIFIC ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Each domain may have additional eligibility criteria.

STEP EVT INDICATION EXPANSION DOMAIN INCLUSION CRITERIA:

1\. Age 18 years or older 2. Pre-stroke modified Rankin Scale score 0-2 3. Presentation to enrolling hospital within 24 hours of last known well/stroke onset 4. Able to initiate arterial puncture within 2 hours from qualifying CTA/MRA or CTP/MRP imaging

\*CT/MR and qualifying CTA/MRA or CTP/MRP should be repeated if more than 120 minutes have elapsed since the imaging and randomization has not been performed. The exception is for LVO Mild deficit/Low NIHSS 0-5 for which imaging would only need to be repeated if there has been significant improvement in the NIHSS prior to randomization.

5\. Has one of the following presentations:

1. LVO patients with mild deficits/low NIHSS (must have both):

1. Mild presenting neurologic deficits - NIHSS 0-5 (Must have some focal neurological deficit attributable to the target occlusion if NIHSS 0)
2. Complete occlusion of the intracranial Internal Carotid Artery (ICA) or M1 Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA)
2. Medium/Distal Vessel Occlusion:

1. Visualized complete occlusion or perfusion deficit (Tmax > 4s) supportive of a cortical branch occlusion in one of the following vessels:

i) Non-dominant/Co-dominant M2 (defined as serving < 50% of entire overall MCA territory) ii) M3
2. If symptom onset is > 6h, the core must be less than 50% of the territory supplied by the occluded vessel as evident by either:

i) Hypodensity and loss of grey-white border on NCCT or ii)ADC <620 mm2/s on diffusion MRI or rCBF<30% on CTP
3. NIHSS > =8

STEP EVT INDICATION EXPANSION DOMAIN EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

1. Clinical

1. Presumed septic embolus; suspicion of bacterial endocarditis
2. Seizure at stroke onset or between onset and enrollment
3. Known anaphylactic reaction to contrast material that precludes endovascular reperfusion therapy
4. Intracranial occlusion suspected to be chronic, based on history and/or imaging
5. Intracranial dissection, based on history and/or imaging
6. Cerebral vasculitis, based on history and/or imaging
7. Known pregnancy
8. Known pre-existing medical, neurological or psychiatric disease that would confound the neurological or functional evaluations
9. Known serious, advanced, or terminal illness or life expectancy less than 6 months in the investigator judgment
10. Known or high suspicion for underlying intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD)
2. Laboratory

a. Known platelet count <100,000/uL
3. Imaging

1. CT ASPECT score <6 (MRI ASPECT score <7)
2. Unfavorable vascular anatomy that limits access to the occluded artery precluding endovascular reperfusion therapy.
3. Acute occlusions in multiple vascular territories (e.g., bilateral anterior circulation, or anterior/posterior circulation)
4. Tandem occlusions
5. Significant mass effect with midline shift (>5mm)
6. Evidence of intra-cranial tumor (except small meningioma defined as (1) <=3 cm, (2) asymptomatic) as confirmed on CT/MRI)
7. Evidence of acute intracranial hemorrhage

Study Design

Enrollment

1600 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Factorial

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

other: Endovascular Therapy (EVT) Indication Expansion Domain: Low NIHSS Strata

Adult patients with acute cerebral ischemia within 24 hours of last known well who have large vessel occlusion (LVO) and mild deficits/low NIHSS (NIHSS 0-5) will be randomized to receive one of two strategies:

  • Endovascular Therapy (EVT)
  • Medical Management (MM)

other: Endovascular Therapy (EVT) Indication Expansion Domain: Medium/Distal Occlusions Strata

Adult patients with acute cerebral ischemia within 24 hours of last known who have Medium Vessel Occlusion (MVO) with Non-dominant/Co-dominant M2 occlusion or Distal Medium Vessel Occlusion (DMVO) patients with M3 occlusion will be randomized to receive one of two strategies:

  • Endovascular Therapy (EVT)
  • Medical Management (MM)

Interventions

Endovascular thrombectomy with any FDA-approved category POL or NRY device

Endovascular thrombectomy with any FDA-approved category POL or NRY device - Neurovascular Mechanical Thrombectomy Device For Acute Ischemic Stroke Treatment (POL), and/or Catheter, Thrombus Retriever (NRY)

Medical Management

Medical Management (MM) may involve any combination of the following: intravenous thrombolysis, antiplatelets, anti-hypertensives, cholesterol-lowering medications, and rehabilitative care.

Primary outcome measure

  • Global disability measured by Modified Rankin Score [ Time Frame: 90-day ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

University of Alabama Hospital

Recruiting

Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294

UCSD Health La Jolla

Recruiting

La Jolla, California, United States, 92093

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center

Recruiting

Los Angeles, California, United States, 90027

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

Recruiting

Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095

UCSD Medical Center - Hillcrest Hospital

Recruiting

San Diego, California, United States, 92103

Stanford University Medical Center

Recruiting

Stanford, California, United States, 94304

Hartford Hospital

Recruiting

Hartford, Connecticut, United States, 06106

Yale New Haven Hospital

Recruiting

New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06511

Jackson Memorial Hospital

Recruiting

Miami, Florida, United States, 33136

Tampa General Hospital

Recruiting

Tampa, Florida, United States, 33606

Grady Memorial Hospital

Recruiting

Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30303

University of Chicago Medical Center

Recruiting

Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60637

University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics

Recruiting

Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52242

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Recruiting

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115

Boston Medical Center

Recruiting

Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02118

M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital

Recruiting

Edina, Minnesota, United States, 55435

M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center

Recruiting

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455

Barnes Jewish Hospital

Recruiting

St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110

Cooper University Hospital

Recruiting

Camden, New Jersey, United States, 08103

NYU Langone Hospital

Recruiting

Brooklyn, New York, United States, 11220

Buffalo General Medical Center

Recruiting

Buffalo, New York, United States, 14203

The Mount Sinai Hospital

Recruiting

New York, New York, United States, 10029

Stony Brook University Hospital

Recruiting

Stony Brook, New York, United States, 11794

Montefiore Medical Center

Recruiting

The Bronx, New York, United States, 10467

Carolinas Medical Center

Recruiting

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, 28207

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Recruiting

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27157

University of Cincinnati Medical Center

Recruiting

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45267

UH Cleveland Medical Center

Recruiting

Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44106

Cleveland Clinic

Recruiting

Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44195

OSU Wexner Medical Center

Recruiting

Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Recruiting

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104

UPMC Presbyterian Hospital

Recruiting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213

UPMC Mercy Hospital

Recruiting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15243

Rhode Island Hospital

Recruiting

Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02903

Medical University of South Carolina University Hospital

Recruiting

Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425

Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center

Recruiting

Houston, Texas, United States, 77030

Medical City Plano

Recruiting

Plano, Texas, United States, 75075

University of Texas Health Science Center

Recruiting

San Antonio, Texas, United States, 78229

University of Utah Healthcare

Recruiting

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 84132

UVA Medical Center

Recruiting

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, 22903

Harborview Medical Center

Recruiting

Seattle, Washington, United States, 98104

More Information

Sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Last update posted

Dec 4, 2025

Last verified

Dec, 2025

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-07. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Medical University of South Carolina on 2025-12-04. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.