RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Mechanical thrombectomy for acute stroke in childhood: how much does restricted diffusion matter? JF BMJ Case Reports FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP bcr2014011465 DO 10.1136/bcr-2014-011465 VO 2014 A1 Travis R Ladner A1 Lucy He A1 Lori C Jordan A1 Calvin Cooper A1 Michael T Froehler A1 J Mocco YR 2014 UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2014/bcr-2014-011465.abstract AB Mechanical thrombectomy holds promise for children with large cerebral arterial occlusions, although there are few reports in this population. We report a case of retrievable stent-assisted mechanical thrombectomy in a 5-year-old with basilar artery occlusion, despite late presentation and extensive initial diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) restriction. This resulted in successful Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction 2B reperfusion and excellent clinical outcome. At 6-week follow-up he was completely back to baseline with no residual deficits (pediatric stroke outcome measure=0, modified Rankin scale=0). At 3-month follow-up the patient has not had any recurrent stroke or concern for stroke-like symptoms. We review the literature on mechanical thrombectomy and DWI changes in acute stroke in early to middle childhood (<12 years old).