REMOTE Ischemic Perconditioning Among Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients ( REMOTE-CAT)

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and the main cause of incapacity. Currently, the only therapies for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients are the administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) and/or endovascular treatment. Unfortunately, many patients cannot benefit from these therapies due to contraindications or evolution time. Neuroprotective therapies could not only increase the benefits of available reperfusion therapies but also provide an option for patients who are not candidates for these treatments. Remote ischemic conditioning, consisting on brief episodes of transient limb ischemia, represents a new paradigm in neuroprotection. It can be categorized in pre-, per- or postconditioning, depending on the moment of application. According to studies in coronary ischemia, remote ischemic perconditioning (RIPerC) during the ischemic event is safe, cost-effective, feasible and associated with a reduction in myocardial injury. The investigators aim to conduct a multicentre study (5 university hospitals) of pre-hospital RIPerC in AIS patients (within 8 hours of stroke onset), which would include 572 stroke code activated patients (286 would undergo RIPerC and 286 would be sham). Our hypothesis is that RIPerC would be safe and would induce endogenous neuroprotective phenomena associated with good outcomes in AIS patients whether treated with revascularization therapies or not. Moreover, the development of systemic ischemic tolerance should provide metabolomic and lipidomic signatures that would present an opportunity to find specific molecular markers (biomarkers). The main objectives will be to assess: 1) RIPerC clinical benefits in AIS, 2) whether RIPerC is safe not only in AIS but also in all cases of stroke code activation, 3) whether RIPerC is associated with a reduction in cerebral infarct size and 4) metabolomic and lipidomic signatures of the RIPerC effect.