Type of stroke location might be relevant to new treatment

Last week, we had a post about new stroke treatment. Not long afterward, I ran across another story about how - potentially - to decide on treatment. I might have to do with large-vessel strokes related to blood clots:

“There was some benefit of therapy up to 7 1/3 hours after onset — that’s an important new aspect,” Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, of David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said in a press release. “If you get the artery open at 3 hours, 65% of patients will be able to live independently 3 months later. If it takes 8 hours to get it open, then only 45% will be able to live independently. It makes a major difference in outcome.”

In a related editorial, Steven Warach, MD, PhD, and S. Claiborne Johnston, MD, PhD, both from Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, wrote that these findings will likely drive concerted efforts to achieve faster interventions in patients with large-vessel ischemic stroke.

“The potential benefit of earlier times to thrombectomy that could be achieved by reducing workflow delays will require substantial system changes,” Warach and Johnston wrote. “Organizations that certify stroke centers may attempt to help improve outcomes by requiring endovascular-capable stroke centers to meet aggressive goals, such as 60 minutes from hospital arrival to arterial puncture and 90 minutes from hospital arrival to achievement of substantial reperfusion.”