Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
-
Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. The clot-lysis drug tissue plasminogen activator is the only treatment that has been effective for acute stroke patients, yet there are significant limitations to its use and effectiveness. In this study retrograde transvenous neuroperfusion (RTN) was evaluated for its efficacy in reversing acute ischemia, preventing paralysis, and limiting pathological evidence of infarction in baboons. ⋯ We conclude that RTN treatment during MCAO effectively reverses the pathophysiological sequelae of ischemia, even when the treatment is initiated 1 hour after the onset of ischemia. Although the infarct volume in the control group was variable when quantitatively assessed 6 days after 3.5 hours of MCAO, virtually no evidence of infarcts was seen in the RTN-treated group.