FDA approved treatments for acute ischemic stroke
What are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatments for acute ischemic stroke?
The only medication currently approved by the FDA to improve outcome after acute ischemic stroke is intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA), administered within 3 hours of symptom onset.
Based on the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study III (ECASS III), American Heart Association guidelines recommend treatment in selected patients out to 4.5 hours after symptom onset, but this extended time window was not FDA approved.
The earlier IV tPA is given, the better the clinical outcome: an estimated 1 million neurons die each minute that thrombolysis is delayed. Only alteplase is approved for acute stroke thrombolysis.
