SCIENCE BRIEFING
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Times Staff And Wire Reports
Guidelines for stroke treatment, which state that the drug tPA must be given to patients within three hours of a stroke, have been called into question.
The drug breaks up blood clots and restores blood flow, potentially sparing brain tissue from damage. A study in Thursday’s journal Stroke suggests that the three-hour window may be too narrow. Researchers at Stanford and colleagues in Germany and Belgium have shown that treatment can help up to 4.5 hours after the first symptoms.
