“The last untreatable form of stroke may well have a treatment”
Johns Hopkins neurologists report success with a new means of getting rid of potentially lethal blood clots in the brain safely without cutting through easily damaged brain tissue or removing large pieces of skull.
The minimally invasive treatment, they report, increased by 10 to 15 percent the number of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who could function independently six months following the procedure.
At the International Stroke Conference taking place Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 in New Orleans, the researchers will present their findings from 93 patients, ages 18 to 80, who randomly got either the new treatment or standard-of-care “supportive” therapy that essentially gives clots a chance to dissolve on their own.
The new study was coordinated by Johns Hopkins and the surgical review centers at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Chicago. All 93 patients were diagnosed with ICH, a particularly lethal or debilitating form of stroke long considered surgically untreatable under most circumstances.
“The last untreatable form of stroke may well have a treatment,” says study leader Daniel F. Hanley, M.D., a professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “If a larger study proves our findings correct, we may substantially reduce the burden of strokes for patients and their families by increasing the number of people who can be independent again after suffering a stroke.”
