Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRIs, might be able to help physicians figure out if clot-busting drugs will help patients who present with unclear-onset or äóìwake-up strokes,äó a new study finds.
Researchers in South Korea used MRIs to screen 430 patients who were either uncertain of when their stroke symptoms began or who woke up while a stroke was in progress. This is an important factor as clot-busting drugs are most effective at preventing disability if administered within four-and-a-half hours of the onset of symptoms.
“Wake-up, or unclear-onset, strokes account for a quarter of all ischemic strokes but have been automatically excluded from clot-busting techniques because the onset time cannot be known,äó said lead study author Dong-Wha Kang, M.D., from the Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea. äóìOur study shows that such patients could also be treated safely and effectively.”
Source:McKnights