Interventional Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke

Stroke: June 1, 2013

The only treatment shown to improve outcome in acute ischemic stroke is tissue-type plasminogen activator administered within 3 hours (and perhaps longer) after stroke onset.^1–3 Definitive data to support a role for acute endovascular stroke therapy, however, are lacking. Despite this lack of data, endovascular therapy is being used much more widely and has become the standard of care in many regions of the United States. The need for randomized controlled trials to test devices in acute stroke is hotly debated, but results from recent studies suggest that surgical and endovascular interventions are not nearly as effective or safe as had been assumed.^4,5 Preconceived notions about how to select the most appropriate patients for therapy may be similarly flawed.  Read more