Intravenous rt–PA therapy and endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke

Abstract

Now Intravenous rt–PA and endovascular therapy are performed in patients with acute stroke. Intravenous rt–PA therapy has been approved in Japan for more than 10 years, and it can be said that rt–PA intravenous therapy is now the standard treatment. Recently, efficacy of endovascular therapy is proved and patient outcomes have changed dramatically from bad outcome to good outcome. We sometimes experience the large vessel occluded patients treated with endovascular therapy, who are walking and being discharged from the hospital. The time windows of endovascular therapy will be prolonged, in the future, which may extend beyond 24 hours onset. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of rt–PA and endovascular therapy.