Ischemic stroke: Qualifying pharmacological strategies for prevention

According to the American Stroke Association, 600,000 Americans will experience a new or recurrent stroke in 2002, and the cost of stroke-related care and disability will accrue to $49 billion. Although therapy with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) has proved effective in ischemic stroke, very few patients receive this intervention - in one recent study of ischemic stroke, less than 5% of patients were treated with tPA. "This, coupled with a lack of other options and high rates of mortality and long-term disability, make primary and secondary prevention of stroke all the more essential," observed Peter L. Salgo, MD, who is Medical Correspondent with WCBS-Television, New York; Clinical Professor of Medicine and Anesthesiology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; and Associate Director of Surgical Intensive Care Units at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, New York. A key to successful stroke prevention management, commented Dr. Salgo, is the ability "to qualify pharmacological strategies for primary and secondary stroke prevention. This Medical Crossfire among a panel of national experts will assist in meeting the challenges clinicians face in preventing stroke.".