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The early ‘90s witnessed the rise of thrombolytic RCTs for acute ischemic stroke. This article focuses on the impact of these trials on the development of the tPA time window for acute ischemic stroke treatment.
ECASS-1
The first tPA trial was a double-blinded RCT of acute ischemic stroke sufferers presenting within six hours of the onset of symptoms. Data analysis was conducted through modified intention to treat and intention-to-treat strategies.
There was a clinically relevant improvement in patients who took tPA, but it was not statistically significant. However, the modified analysis saw statistical …

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, this paper by van der Pol LM, et al. studied 510 expecting women to see if an algorithm could diagnose pulmonary embolism without the need for imaging.
The aim of the study is to see if it is an effective alternative to ventilation-perfusion scanning and CT pulmonary angiography. These two traditional tests expose both the pregnant woman and the fetus to radiation.
Researchers evaluated three criteria from the YEARS algorithm. They were the clinical signs of hemoptysis, pulmonary embolism, and deep-vein thrombosis. The D-dimer level was also measured. The team ruled out …

Frequent fliers are at a higher risk of the potentially fatal condition called deep vein thrombosis or DVT. Below, we have the basic facts that everyone should know about it.
What Is DVT?
Deep vein thrombosis happens when a blood clot forms and obstructs a blood vessel in the body. While it is most commonly seen in the lower leg or thigh, it affects other body parts as well. It might have no visible symptoms, but sufferers sometimes notice swelling, pain, discoloration, and cramps in the affected area.
Who Is At Risk?
The risk of DVT increases if a person remains seated for an extended period of time. …

There are many nuances that come with a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. For one thing, this condition affects 25 to 100 people per 100,000. This means that 30,000 Canadians suffer from it on a yearly basis. It is also a potentially fatal affliction.
In fact, it is behind only stroke and heart attack in terms of fatality among cardiovascular diseases. Lastly, survivors have a high risk of pulmonary hypertension in the long run.
It is important to identify it among at-risk patients as soon as possible. There are two primary diagnostic tests used to check for pulmonary embolism: CT Pulmonary Angiography and D-Dimer.
D-…

In October 2019, the New England Journal of Medicine published this paper by Hani Jneid, M.D. It is about the study conducted by Schüpke S, et al. The research follows an open-label multicenter trial that pioneered the comparison of Ticagrelor and Prasugrel as a treatment for sufferers of acute coronary syndromes.
The patients in question were due for invasive evaluation at the time.
The multicenter randomized trial involved the random assignment of either prasugrel or ticagrelor to 4018 patients set to receive an invasive evaluation. The main endpoint had been the …