Patient Eligibility Criteria
stroke, stroke disability, death, Stroke
STROKE, STROKE
Patients were eligible if they were aged 18 to 80 years, had a clinically diagnosed AIS symptom within 48 hours of onset, had a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 0 or 1 prior to onset, had a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score between 4 and 24 after onset (indicating moderate stroke), had an upper and lower limb motor deficit score on the NIHSS of at least 2, and signed informed consent. The mRS is a global stroke disability scale with scores ranging from 0 (no symptoms or completely recovered) to 6 (death). The NIHSS is a tool used by clinicians to quantify impairment caused by stroke (range, 0-42, with higher scores indicating greater severity). The motor arm and leg deficits are subcategories of the NIHSS, scored on a 0 to 4 scale, with higher scores indicating greater severity. The detailed exclusion criteria are shown in eTable 1 in 