For some strokes, brain scans can safely stretch the treatment window to 24 hours
Removing a stroke-causing clot still helped patients up to 24 hours after symptoms began, when good brain scans picked the right people. Across 505 patients from 6 trials, longer time before treatment did not lower the benefit.
Why it matters
A stroke happens when a blocked blood vessel starves part of the brain. Usually, faster treatment means less damage. This study suggests that in carefully chosen patients, whose brains are dying slowly, doctors can still remove the clot many hours later and help them recover. That could give people who wake up with a stroke, or arrive at hospital late, a real chance. But the study also found that delays once inside the hospital still hurt patients, so speed still matters.
Who's behind it: Raul G. Nogueira and colleagues, Multi-center international collaboration.
Summary by the Lemma AI · how we grade