[Editorial] Thrombolysis for stroke: clinical judgment at its apogee

In the Correspondence section of today's Lancet, we publish a selection of letters challenging the report by Jonathan Emberson and colleagues on the effect of treatment delay, age, and stroke severity on the effects of thrombolysis with alteplase for acute ischaemic stroke. Emberson and colleagues concluded from their meta-analysis of 6756 patients that despite early increases in fatal intracranial haemorrhage, alteplase improves the overall likelihood of a good stroke outcome at 3–6 months when delivered within 4·5 h of the initial stroke symptoms, with earlier treatment increasing proportional benefit, irrespective of age or stroke severity.
Source: LANCET - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research