|
Chicago
researchers will try to determine whether medical management
or surgery is the most effective way to treat patients who
recently have had either a stroke or a transient ischemic
(TIA) attack due to a complete blockage of one of their carotid
arteries.
The five-year
study will involve those who have had either smaller strokes
or TIAs, a brief interruption of blood supply to part of the
brain, due to a complete blockage in one of their carotid
arteries. Researchers from Chicago's Rush-Presbyterian-St.
Luke's Medical Center and the University of Illinois - Chicago
(UIC) College of Medicine will be involved.
"We're
hoping to become better informed
about the best way to go about treating these conditions,
which can have such devastating consequences," said Dr.
Fady Charbel, the principal researcher and interim head of
neurosurgery at the UIC College of Medicine.
Patients
will be randomly assigned to receive either medical management
or surgery to redirect the blood flow around the blockage
and will be followed-up every three months for at least two
years.
Currently,
the researchers noted that patients who suffer strokes associated
with severe narrowing by cholesterol plaque either undergo
surgery to remove the plaque or are treated with platelet
inhibitory drugs.
For those
patients with complete blockages, the treatment is less certain,
and they are commonly treated with medication as the plaque
cannot be removed safely at this point. If symptoms persist
despite medication, bypass surgery is sometimes considered
as a last resort.
Source:
Hypertension
Week of July 7, 2002
|
HOME PAGE
