Skip to content

Assess the Penumbra System in the Treatment of Acute Stroke

The THERAPY Trial: The Randomized, Concurrent Controlled Trial to Assess the Penumbra System's Safety and Effectiveness in the Treatment of Acute Stroke

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01429350
Acronym
THERAPY
Enrollment
108
Registered
2011-09-07
Start date
2012-05-31
Completion date
2016-10-31
Last updated
2020-09-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Ischemic Stroke

Keywords

ischemic stroke, acute intervention, thrombolysis, rtPA, internal carotid artery, middle cerebral artery, mechanical thrombectomy, Penumbra System, clot length, mRS, NIHSS

Brief summary

The purpose of this trial is to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Penumbra System as an adjunctive treatment to intravenous (IV) recombinant human tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA)in patients with acute ischemic stroke from large vessel occlusion in the brain. IV rtPA is the only drug approved for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke but it does not work very well in cases where the stroke is caused by a large vessel occlusion. The hypothesis being tested is to determine if the addition of a treatment by a mechanical thrombectomy device like the Penumbra System can improve the clinical outcome of the patient over just using IV rtPA alone.

Detailed description

Current therapies for acute stroke are limited to the intravenous administration of a intravenous (IV) recombinant human tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) for thrombolysis of the affected cerebral arteries within 3-4.5 hours from symptom onset, and the use of intra-arterial (IA) endovascular mechanical clot retrieval devices within 8 hours from ictus, all of which have limitations as mono therapies. For example, IV rtPA may not be very efficacious in large vessel occlusion and the long term effects of mechanical thrombectomy devices on patient functional outcome is unknown. This is a randomized, concurrent controlled study to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Penumbra System as adjunctive therapy to IV rtPA in the acute intervention of acute ischemic stroke. Patients presenting with symptoms of acute ischemic stroke who have evidence of a large clot burden (clot length \> 8mm) in the anterior circulation will be assigned to either IV rtPA therapy alone (0.9mg/kg to a maximum of 90mg) or a combined IV rtPA therapy (0.9mg/kg to a maximum of 90mg) and intra-arterial (IA) adjunctive treatment with the Penumbra System. Each treated patient will be followed and assessed for 3 months after enrollment.

Interventions

The Penumbra System is an aspiration based mechanical thrombectomy device

Sponsors

Penumbra Inc.
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. From 18 to 85 years of age 2. Present with symptoms consistent with an acute ischemic stroke and eligible for IV rtPA therapy (patients presenting 3-4.5 hrs from symptom onset are not eligible if they are \>80 yrs of age, have a history of stroke and diabetes, anticoagulant use (even if INR is \<1.7) and have a NIHSS score \>25 3. Evidence of a large vessel occlusion in the anterior circulation with a clot length of 8mm or longer 4. NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score 8 or greater or aphasic at presentation 5. Signed informed consent

Exclusion criteria

1. History of stroke in the past 3 months. 2. Females who are pregnant 3. Pre-existing neurological or psychiatric disease that could confound the study results such as a pre-stroke mRS score 1 or greater 4. Known severe allergy to contrast media 5. Uncontrolled hypertension (defined as systolic blood pressure \>185 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure \>110 mmHg) 6. CT evidence of the following conditions at randomization: * Significant mass effect with midline shift * Any acute ischemic changes in \>1/3 of the affected middle cerebral artery territory * Evidence of intracranial hemorrhage 7. Angiographic evidence of tantem extracranial occlusion or an arterial stenosis proximal to the occlusion that requires treatment prior to thrombus removal. Moderate stenosis not requiring treatment is not an exclusion 8. Angiographic evidence of preexisting arterial injury 9. Rapidly improving neurological status prior to randomization 10. Bilateral stroke 11. Intracranial tumors 12. Known history of cerebral aneurysm or arteriovenous malfunction 13. Known hemorrhagic diathesis, coagulation deficiency, or on anticoagulant therapy with an International Normalized Ratio (INR) of \>1.7 14. Baseline platelets \<50,000 15. Use of IV heparin in the past 48 hours with PPT \>1.5 times the normalized ratio 16. Pre-treatment glucose \<50mg/dL or \>300mg/dL 17. Life expectancy less than 90 days prior to stroke onset 18. Participation in another clinical investigation that could confound the evaluation of the study device

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Good Functional Outcome as Defined by a Modified Rankin Score of 0-290 daysThe assessor is blinded to patient treatment assignment.
Incidence of All Serious Adverse Events90 daysA Serious Adverse Event is defined as an event that: 1. Led to death 2. Led to a serious deterioration in the health of the patient that: * Resulted in life-threatening illness or injury * Resulted in permanent impairment of a body structure or a body function * Required in-patient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization * Resulted in medical or surgical intervention to arrest permanent impairment to body structure or a body function * Led to fetal distress, fetal death or a congenital abnormality or birth defect

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Good Clinical Outcome30 daysGood clinical outcome at 30 days post-procedure as defined by a 10 points or more improvement in the NIH stroke scale score at Discharge, a NIH stroke scale score of 0-1 at Discharge; or a 30-day modified Rankin scale score of 0-2
Incidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Intracranial Hemorrhage90 daysA symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage is defined as 24 hour CT evidence of an ECASS defined ICH and a 4-point or more worsening of the NIH Stroke Scale score

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
IV rtPA
IV infusion of rtPA at 0.9mg/kg to a maximum of 90mg intravenous (IV) recombinant human tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA): 0.9mg/kg to a maximum of 90mg
53
IV rtPA and IA Penumbra System
Dual IV rtPA therapy (0.9mg/kg to a maximum of 90mg) and IA adjunctive treatment with the Penumbra System Penumbra System: The Penumbra System is an aspiration based mechanical thrombectomy device
55
Total108

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicIV rtPAIV rtPA and IA Penumbra SystemTotal
Age, Continuous70 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 10
67 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11
68.7 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.9
Sex: Female, Male
Female
30 Participants21 Participants51 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
23 Participants34 Participants57 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
58 / 6242 / 43
serious
Total, serious adverse events
32 / 6220 / 43

Outcome results

Primary

Good Functional Outcome as Defined by a Modified Rankin Score of 0-2

The assessor is blinded to patient treatment assignment.

Time frame: 90 days

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
IV rtPAGood Functional Outcome as Defined by a Modified Rankin Score of 0-214 Participants
IV rtPA and IA Penumbra SystemGood Functional Outcome as Defined by a Modified Rankin Score of 0-219 Participants
Primary

Incidence of All Serious Adverse Events

A Serious Adverse Event is defined as an event that: 1. Led to death 2. Led to a serious deterioration in the health of the patient that: * Resulted in life-threatening illness or injury * Resulted in permanent impairment of a body structure or a body function * Required in-patient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization * Resulted in medical or surgical intervention to arrest permanent impairment to body structure or a body function * Led to fetal distress, fetal death or a congenital abnormality or birth defect

Time frame: 90 days

Population: The number of participants here are taken from the as-treated population, where IV tPA alone is 62 which differs from the number of initial participants started based on participant flow. This is due to 9 subjects who were randomized to Penumbra System receiving IV tPA Alone and no Penumbra System was used.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
IV rtPAIncidence of All Serious Adverse Events30 Participants
IV rtPA and IA Penumbra SystemIncidence of All Serious Adverse Events18 Participants
Secondary

Good Clinical Outcome

Good clinical outcome at 30 days post-procedure as defined by a 10 points or more improvement in the NIH stroke scale score at Discharge, a NIH stroke scale score of 0-1 at Discharge; or a 30-day modified Rankin scale score of 0-2

Time frame: 30 days

Population: 30 day good clinical outcome based on ITT (intent-to-treat) population.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
IV rtPAGood Clinical Outcome17 Participants
IV rtPA and IA Penumbra SystemGood Clinical Outcome24 Participants
Secondary

Incidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Intracranial Hemorrhage

A symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage is defined as 24 hour CT evidence of an ECASS defined ICH and a 4-point or more worsening of the NIH Stroke Scale score

Time frame: 90 days

Population: The number of participants here are taken from the as-treated population, where IV tPA alone is 62 which differs from the number of initial participants started based on participant flow. This is due to 9 subjects who were randomized to Penumbra System receiving IV tPA Alone and no Penumbra System was used.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
IV rtPAIncidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Intracranial Hemorrhage6 Participants
IV rtPA and IA Penumbra SystemIncidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Intracranial Hemorrhage4 Participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 19, 2026