Calgary research says stroke treatment window longer than thought

Dr. Michael Hill, a stroke neurologist at Foothills Medical Centre, says the researchers gathered information from a number of trials to establish a better understanding of what the time limits are for application of the therapy.

He tells CTV Calgary it’s proven to be effective.

“What’s new for us is the real understanding that we can extend the time window in selected patients to longer times,” says Hill. “That’s really helpful for us in Alberta because we have a huge geographic region to deal with so flying someone from say, High Level down to Edmonton, is still potentially a good idea for treating stroke.”

The findings also reinforce the need for speed between first responders and specialists so that patients reach the right facility for the correct treatment.

“It still means that we have to get people into hospital quickly so that we can assess them, image them, see whether they’re eligible for this therapy and then apply it as quickly as we can.”

Hill says people need to learn to recognize a stroke in order to get help quickly.

“It’s really imperative that we educate as much of the public as possible because it you know what the type of stroke, or what a stroke is, you’ll be able to help your brother or your mother or your grandmother to identify a stroke, call 911 and get into hospital,” he says.

“So if I treat someone at two hours, they’re much more likely to have a good outcome than if I treat someone at four hours or six hours but what we’ve learned is that we can maybe extend this time limit out to seven or nearly seven and a half hours and still see benefit on average.”

(CTV Calgary)

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Calgary research says stroke treatment window longer than thought

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