Landmark study may affect stroke treatment guidelines

Editor's Note

Guidelines for stroke treatment currently recommend clot removal within 6 hours of onset. However, a new study led by researchers from Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, finds that clot removal up to 24 hours leads to significantly reduced disability.

This international multi-center study randomly assigned 206 stroke patients, who arrived at the hospital within 6 to 24 hours, to either endovascular clot removal or standard medical therapy.

Nearly half (48.6%) of patients who underwent clot removal had a considerable decrease in disability, while only 13.1% of the medication group had a similar decrease.

The findings could impact countless stroke patients who arrive at the hospital after the current 6-hour treatment window has closed, the researchers say.

The study will be published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Standard guidelines for stroke treatment currently recommend clot removal only within six hours of stroke onset. But a milestone study with results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that clot removal up to 24 hours after stroke led to significantly reduced disability for properly selected patients.

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