This Beats Clot-Busting Drug Alone in Stroke Study
This Beats Clot-Busting Drug Alone in Stroke Study
People who had removal procedure were more likely to have functional independence after 90 days
TUESDAY, Nov. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Extracting a stroke-causing blood clot is better than just using a clot-busting drug for preserving brain function, a new analysis concludes.
About 45 percent of patients who underwent the clot-removal procedure experienced functional independence at 90 days, compared with about 32 percent of patients treated with the clot-busting IV medication called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the researchers found.
The evidence also showed that clot removal is as safe as tPA, said senior study author Dr. Saleh Almenawer, a neurosurgeon at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
"We didn't find more deaths, and we didn't find this therapy to cause more brain bleeds," Almenawer said.
Stroke victims appeared to have the best chances of all if doctors used an angiogram to locate the offending blood clot, if the latest clot-removal device was used, and if patients were given tPA before clot removal, Almenawer said.
"The combination therapy is perhaps the way to go," he said. "When stroke patients arrive to the hospital, the protocol should be followed. The IV tPA should be administered, and the angiogram should be performed to locate the blockage."
The study is published in the Nov. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Nearly nine out of 10 strokes are caused by a blood clot that blocks one of the arteries supplying blood to the brain, according to the American Heart Association. Standard stroke treatment relies on powerful blood-thinning medications that break up the clot and restore blood flow to the brain.
But when those drugs don't work, doctors now can turn to a new catheter-based device that will physically remove the blood clot. The tool, called an endovascular stent retrieval device, is made up of wire mesh that resembles a tiny ring of chicken wire.
Skilled surgeons run the device up through a person's arteries via a catheter, and then open it smack in the middle of a stroke-causing blood clot. They then use the mesh to drag the clot out through the artery.
This Beats Clot-Busting Drug Alone in Stroke Study
People who had removal procedure were more likely to have functional independence after 90 days
TUESDAY, Nov. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Extracting a stroke-causing blood clot is better than just using a clot-busting drug for preserving brain function, a new analysis concludes.
About 45 percent of patients who underwent the clot-removal procedure experienced functional independence at 90 days, compared with about 32 percent of patients treated with the clot-busting IV medication called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the researchers found.
The evidence also showed that clot removal is as safe as tPA, said senior study author Dr. Saleh Almenawer, a neurosurgeon at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
"We didn't find more deaths, and we didn't find this therapy to cause more brain bleeds," Almenawer said.
Stroke victims appeared to have the best chances of all if doctors used an angiogram to locate the offending blood clot, if the latest clot-removal device was used, and if patients were given tPA before clot removal, Almenawer said.
"The combination therapy is perhaps the way to go," he said. "When stroke patients arrive to the hospital, the protocol should be followed. The IV tPA should be administered, and the angiogram should be performed to locate the blockage."
The study is published in the Nov. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Nearly nine out of 10 strokes are caused by a blood clot that blocks one of the arteries supplying blood to the brain, according to the American Heart Association. Standard stroke treatment relies on powerful blood-thinning medications that break up the clot and restore blood flow to the brain.
But when those drugs don't work, doctors now can turn to a new catheter-based device that will physically remove the blood clot. The tool, called an endovascular stent retrieval device, is made up of wire mesh that resembles a tiny ring of chicken wire.
Skilled surgeons run the device up through a person's arteries via a catheter, and then open it smack in the middle of a stroke-causing blood clot. They then use the mesh to drag the clot out through the artery.
Source...