Three new studies offer important additional evidence that early treatment with current thrombectomy devices that extract clots from blood vessels in the brain can lead to improved outcomes in carefully selected stroke patients. The trials were stopped early based on efficacy following positive findings last year from another trial, MR CLEAN. The three new trials were…
New Devices May Bring Improved Treatment To Stroke Patients
December 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A large new trial provides the first substantial evidence that new devices can improve the outcome of patients who have acute ischemic stroke. Earlier, less sophisticated versions of the devices had produced disappointing results in clinical trials. The previous trials may also have been hindered by long treatment delays and difficulties in recruiting suitable patients. The new…
Clot Busters For Stroke Gain More Support
August 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Although thrombolysis for ischemic stroke has been widely recognized as beneficial, its use has been limited because of concerns about its effects on patients treated after 3 hours, on older patients, and on patients with mild and with severe strokes. Now a new metaanalysis published in the Lancet offers evidence that the use of thrombolysis should be more…
Study Finds Flaws in New Treatment For Blood Clots
July 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In recent years, catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) has been added to the current standard of anticoagulation therapy in some patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The hope was that CDT would help reduce the high rate of post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), but now an observational study finds no benefits and some important disadvantages associated with CDT. In a…
Mixed Results for Thrombolysis in Pulmonary Embolism
June 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The role of thrombolytic therapy for the treatment of pulmonary embolism has been unclear, as it has been difficult to measure the precise balance between enhanced clot-dissolving efficacy and greater bleeding risk produced by thrombolysis when compared with conventional anticoagulation. A new meta-analysis published in JAMA analyzed data from 16 randomized trials including 2115 patients. Overall, there…
45 years in the business (Bill Roberts part 2)
January 8, 2009 by Leave a Comment
In addition to dissecting, like the good pathologist he is, the status of cardiovascular journals (see previous post in this blog), Bill Roberts, AJC editor, looks back on 45 years in the cardiovascular arena. In 1963 he was a cardiology fellow under Braunwald at the NIH. Roberts writes: That was the year President John F. Kennedy…
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