Retrievable stents offer improved outcomes for stroke patients

There are few illnesses as disabling as a stroke. A stroke is the cessation of blood flow to part of the brain. It can cause sudden difficulty speaking, difficulty moving a limb, facial drooping, or the loss of vision in a fragment of the field of view. In many stroke patients the loss of function never improves and the patients remain permanently disabled.

Before the 1980s there was no effective treatment for this devastating illness. Stroke patients were simply observed and given physical therapy. Some improved, and many didn’t. In the 1980s a blood clot dissolving medication called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) began to be used for stroke patients with encouraging results.

tPA is given intravenously and has to be given within 4 hours of symptom onset. In patients with small clots who present to the emergency department in time, it can make a dramatic improvement in outcome. In the 1990s a large study proved that treating stroke patients with tPA is better than not. The main limitation of tPA was the narrow time window and its lack of effectiveness against large clots in large arteries.

By the late 1990s many large stroke centers were trying to improve on tPA. At UCLA, where I trained, stroke patients were treated by inserting a catheter in the clotted artery and delivering clot-dissolving medications directly to the clot. That became the standard of care at many centers, though there were never large studies to show that this was better than intravenous tPA.

More recently, various devices have been designed to remove blood clots from brain arteries. But again, there has never been evidence that these are more effective than intravenous tPA, until now.

” target=”_blank”>This NEJM Quick Take Video summarizes the findings of the study.

So stroke is more treatable now than ever. But the time from the onset of symptoms to the initiation of therapy is still critical for a good outcome. So if you ever suddenly develop difficulty speaking, or can’t move a limb, or lose vision in a fragment of your field of view, call 911. Getting to an emergency room promptly can make the difference between getting 1970s care for your stroke and getting 2014 care.

Learn more:

” target=”_blank”>Stents Boost Stroke Recovery, Study Finds (Wall Street Journal)
” target=”_blank”>Video: MR CLEAN (NEJM Quick Take)
” target=”_blank”>Interventional Thrombectomy for Major Stroke — A Step in the Right Direction (NEJM editorial, subscription required)