In many cases, surgeons can save brain tissue that’s on the brink of death by removing clots in the brain. That treatment option is normally only performed within 6 hours of a stroke, but a pair of new studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine indicates there is benefit to clot removal even 16 to 24 hours.
“We are quadrupling the stroke treatment window,” one study author said to the Post. “It’s going to have a massive impact on how stroke is triaged and assessed.”
Among patients with acute stroke who had last been known to be well 6 to 24 hours earlier and who had a mismatch between clinical deficit and infarct, outcomes for disability at 90 days were better with thrombectomy plus standard care than with standard care alone.
Thrombectomy 6 to 24 Hours after Stroke with a Mismatch between Deficit and Infarct.