Committee Expands Treatment Window For Stroke Sufferers
Posted on: Friday, 29 May 2009, 13:22 CDT
A committee of medical experts has extended the treatment window for a stroke from three hours to 4 1/2 hours after symptoms arise.
When a person begins showing signs of a stroke – numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg; trouble speaking, seeing or walking; a sudden headache – timing is crucial. The sooner they seek medical help, the more likely they are to recover without substantial brain damage.
The initial window for treatment using clot-busting drugs in stroke patients was once determined to be three hours, but now doctors with the committee for the American Heart Association Stroke Council have lengthened that timeframe to 4 1/2 hours
The group published their updated treatment window in the group’s journal Stroke. The decision was supported by findings form a European study last fall that found stroke victims still benefited from receiving clot-busting drugs even an hour after the three-hour window had passed.
Doctors say only one third of stroke sufferers get medical attention within three hours, and only five percent receive the drug TPA that works to eliminate the blood clots that are blocking blood supply to the brain.
“Most of them are ineligible because they come to the hospital after the three-hour time window,” said Maarten Lansberg, assistant professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford, and author of the study.
The study, funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, found no change in the death rate among patients treated with TPA during the three- to 4.5-hour window.
Strokes are the third leading cause of death in the US. An estimated 795,000 people suffer a stroke each year and more than 140,000 die as a result.
Although the time frame is a bit looser, doctors still say sooner is always better when it comes to seeking medical attention.
"They should call the ambulance straight away and get moving," Dr. Gregory del Zoppo, of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, who headed the committee for the American Heart Association Stroke Council, told the Associated Press.
"If you were to arrive in 30 minutes, the chances of a better outcome are higher than if you arrive in four hours," said Dr. Mark D. Johnson, a stroke specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
---
On the Net:
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
Related Articles
- Study Results Show That Minimally Invasive Therapy is Successful for Over Two-Thirds of Stroke Patients Treated Outside the Standard Eight-Hour Window
- Studies Show African Americans Are More Vulnerable To Welfare Penalties
- Study Finds African-Americans More Distrusting Of Research Than Whites
- Axiom Worldwide's International Medical Advisory Board Steering Committee Issues Consensus Statement Regarding the Axiom Protocols!
- American Airlines Extends Confirmed Flight Change Window to 12 Hours Prior to Departure
- Study Links Doctor Errors, Bad Diagnoses
- Venezuela Studying Feasibility of S.American Gas Pipeline
- Free Medical Clinic Running Short of Doctors
- Study: Pennsylvania Doctors Practice Defensive Medicine
- Study: Drowsy Doctors Dangerous Drivers
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds