How is stroke treated?
Ischemic stroke, which involves a blockage of blood flow to a portion of the brain, can be treated in some patients during the first three hours of an attack, using thrombolytic drugs such as Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA), which destroys harmful blood clots. In addition, FDA-approved clinical trials are currently underway for neuroprotective drugs that have shown the ability to reduce the number of brain cells destroyed in a stroke. Hemorrhagic stroke, which involves the bursting of a blood vessel in or near the brain, is treated using different therapies. Many such strokes are the result of an aneurysm (a bulging blood vessel) that has burst. In the past, many of these high-risk aneurysms were inoperable. Advances in neuroradiology at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin now make treatment possible.
Strokes caused by blood clots can be treated with clot-busting drugs such as TPA, or tissue plasminogen activator. TPA must be given within three hours of the start of a stroke to work, and tests must be done first. This is why it is so important for a person having a stroke to get to a hospital fast. Other medicines are used to treat and to prevent stroke. Anticoagulants, such as warfarin, and antiplatelet agents, such as aspirin, block the blood’s ability to clot and can help prevent a stroke in patients with high risk, such as a person who has atrial fibrillation (a kind of irregular heartbeat). Surgery is sometimes used to treat or prevent stroke. Carotid endarterectomy is a surgery to remove fatty deposits clogging the carotid artery in the neck, which could lead to a stroke. For hemorrhagic stroke, a doctor may perform surgery to place a metal clip at the base of an aneurysm (a thin or weak spot in an artery that balloons out and can burst) or remove abnormal blood vessels.
