Actual trends in diagnosis/thrombolytic therapy of acute cerebral stroke

The recent reports confirm the idea that the selection of cerebral stroke p atients for thrombolysis should be performed by MRI. These studies suggeste d that DWI PWI MRA may be able to identify patients who are most likely to benefit from thrombolytics, and that the PWI > DWI pattern in particular is associated with an improved outcome from thrombolytic therapy. However, ma ny questions remain unanswered and a lot of work is necessary before MRI gu ided thrombolysis in acute cerebral stroke becomes a part of the standard c are. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.