The recently published MR CLEAN trial for interventional management of stroke is a major step towards management of acute ischemic stroke. The trial was conducted in Netherlands and compared medical management with medical management and interventional therapy. At the end of three months, a significantly greater proportion of patients in the interventional therapy group had good outcome than those in the medical treatment group (32.6% Vs 19.1%). Good functional outcome was 67% more likely in the interventional group.
This trial included patients with large artery strokes. Patients with large artery strokes have a clot occluding one of the major arteries that supply the brain such as the internal carotid artery or the middle cerebral artery. Such patients have a very high risk of disability and death. The currently approved treatment of such patients is tPA, is a drug that is given…
