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Tissue Plasminogen Activator Reduces Risk Of Stroke Disability
CHICAGO, IL -- June 17, 1999 -- In the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen
Activator Stroke Study, individuals treated with the clot-buster t-PA
within three hours after the onset of symptoms of acute ischemic stroke
were at least 30 percent more likely to have minimal or no disability at
12 months than were the placebo-treated patients.
This report extends the
findings of the original study that was reported in 1995 and examined
the outcomes of these patients over a three-month period. The study
results were published last week in the New England Journal of
Medicine.
"This study
clearly demonstrates the advantages of receiving early treatment of
stroke with t-PA during the three hour window after stroke symptoms
begin," said Gregory Albers, M.D. and director of the Stanford
Stroke Center in Palo Alto, CA. "The fact that the studies' results
are consistent during three and 12 month periods shows that the
beneficial effect of t-PA is sustained over time.
"Another important
finding of the NINDS trial is that the stroke recurrence rate was
similar in the t-PA and placebo group."
However, according to
Albers, t-PA treatment is not without risk. Albers added that the rate
of symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) was
higher in t-PA treated patients at both three and 12 month periods.
However, the same trend toward a slightly lower death rate in the t-PA
treated patients that was seen at three months was still present at one
year.
"The major
drawbacks to t-PA continue to be the increased risk of haemorrhage and
the very short treatment window," Albers said.
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/108402.htm
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