A Stroke Resource for Patients and Professionals
The window for stroke therapy refers to the time limit after the onset of symptoms when treatment can still be made available. A new study, presented at the European Stroke Organization conference in Prague last month, may extend this window to 24 hours for carefully selected patients. The trial, known as DAWN, selected patients for treatment … Read more…
The only available drug for the treatment of the most common type of stroke is the clot buster known as tPA. This treatment was first approved by FDA 20 years ago. The cost of tPA jumped by 111% between 2005 and 2014, but reimbursement rose by only 8%, reported Dawn Kleindorfer, MD, University of Cincinnati, … Read more…
The modern era of stroke treatment began 20 years ago today, with the publication of the NINDS tPA trial in The New England Journal of Medicine. Back in those days, stroke was not considered treatable, and there was no urgency attached to the care of stroke patients. A CT scan was not a test that … Read more…
In 1995 the clot dissolving drug tPA was first demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of the most common type of stroke, those caused by blood clots plugging arteries in the brain. Since that time, no newer therapy has been proven to improve the outcome of stroke patients compared to tPA. But tPA treatment … Read more…
Atrial fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat that is quite common in the elderly. This condition results in the tendency for blood clots to originate in the heart and move into the brain, plugging blood vessels and causing a stroke. The strokes associated with atrial fibrillation tend to be large and severe. There are … Read more…