Chemotherapy Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chemotherapy, including details on cancer treatment, side effects, drugs.

Thrombolytic and newer mechanical device treatment for acute ischemic stroke.

Lutsep HL

Oregon Stroke Center and Associate Professor, Oregon Health & Science University, Department of Neurology, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, CR 131 Portland, OR 97239-3098, USA. lutseph@ohsu.edu

For 8 years, only intravenous tissue plasminogen activator was approved by the US FDA for acute stroke treatment. The US FDA has now cleared the Merci Retriever (Concentric Medical, Inc.), a corkscrew-like device attached to a catheter, for the removal of clots causing ischemic strokes. Since the clearance was based on nonrandomized treatment trials, practitioners must scrutinize available data describing effects of the device on recanalization of the vessel, outcomes and important adverse events, such as symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. This article reviews the study findings that are likely to contribute to current treatment decisions.

Published 11 July 2006 in Expert Rev Neurother, 6(7): 1099-105.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

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