Two studies have found that a blood-clot removing procedure improves patients' likelihood of recovering from a stroke more so than administering clot-busting drugs, according to a Reuters report.
The results of the two studies may reinvigorate waning interest in using devices in treating strokes. Highlighted below are five things to know about the findings of the studies, as outlined by Reuters:
- The first trial — called ESCAPE — found 53 percent of 120 stroke patients who had undergone a clot-removing procedure were functionally independent 90 days later.
- Only 29 percent of the 118 patients who received clot-busting drugs as a part of the ESCAPE trial were functionally independent.
- ESCAPE also found the procedure nearly halved the death rate from stroke, from 19 percent of the patients receiving drugs dying within three months to 10.4 percent with the procedure.
- The second trial — called EXTEND-IA — found patients who received the clot-busting drug were getting blood to 37 percent of their oxygen-starved brain tissue within 24 hours of treatment, compared to 35 percent of brain tissue in patients who had undergone the procedure.
- That said, more than 70 percent of the patients in the procedure group in the EXTEND-IA trial had achieved functional independence after three months, considerably more than the 40 percent of the patients in the clot-busting drug group.
The benefits of clot extraction were so pronounced, both studies were stopped early.
More articles on stroke care:
Telemedicine expedites stroke patient recovery in Florida hospitals
REACH telestroke programs exceed national average tPA administration
Shortage of stroke specialists looms