Coffey co-author on updated stroke treatment guidelines
Published on July 1, 2015
For the first time, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recommends using a stent retrieval device to remove blood clots in select stroke patients who have clots obstructing the large arteries supplying blood to the brain, according to a new focused update published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. Chris Coffey, CPH professor of biostatistics, is a co-author of the updated guidelines.
The optimal initial treatment for a clot-caused (ischemic) stroke remains intravenous delivery of the clot-busting medication tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). When given within a few hours after stroke symptoms, tPA can dissolve the clot and reestablish blood flow to the brain, limiting stroke disability.
“What we’ve learned in the last eight months, from six new clinical trials, is that some people will benefit from additional treatment with a stent retrieval device if a clot continues to obstruct one of the big vessels after tPA is given,” said William J. Powers, M.D., lead author of the focused update and H. Houston Merritt distinguished professor and chair of the department of neurology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The focused update on endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke analyzes results from randomized clinical trials published since 2013, when the last treatment guidelines were issued.