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New Findings on Thrombolytic Treatments

Victims of stroke have better chances of survival according to the newest scientific findings on thrombolytic treatment, which were presented at the most recent meeting of the European Neurological Society.  Stroke has become a major challenge for health policy and for medicine in general.  It is now the second most common cause of death globally and the major cause of adult disability.

The medication is applied intravenously to break up the blood clots.  The guidelines recommend a window of three hours between the onset of stroke and the beginning of therapy. The recently published study showed that treatment between 3 and 4.5 hours after the onset of a stroke with the thrombolytic agent alteplase can also improve clinical outcome.

Another new approach, endovascular stent-assisted thrombolysis, is a promising treatment for patients with a specific type of artery occlusions arising from internal carotid artery (ICA) dissection.  This condition mainly has thromboembolic consequences which are often resistant to intravenous thrombolysis.