The Official Journal of EuroPCR and the European Association of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (EAPCI)
EDITORIAL
The current status of endovascular treatment for acute ischaemic stroke
EuroIntervention 2016;12:e130-e132 published online e-edition June 2016. DOI: 10.4244/EIJV12I2A24
Ismail Dogu Kilic1, MD; Omer Goktekin2*, MD
1. Department of Cardiology, Pamukkale University Hospitals, Denizli, Turkey; 2. Department of Cardiology, Bezmialem University Hospitals, Istanbul, Turkey
Stroke, a growing global healthcare burden, remains one of the leading culprits of disability and death in the Western world1. Ischaemic stroke accounts for the majority of all strokes, in which rapid restoration of blood flow to salvageable tissue at risk of infarction reduces the final area of infarct and provides better outcomes. For several years, fibrinolytic treatment with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), within four and a half hours of the onset of symptoms, has been the primary reperfusion strategy in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. Nonetheless, limitations of tPA therapy, including the low rates of recanalisation in ...