An overview on diagnosis and prevention of ischaemic stroke

Abstract

Acute ischemic stroke is a significant public health concern that will become more important to neurologists in the future. Timely reperfusion therapy remains the cornerstone of successful stroke management. This necessitates public and first responder identification of symptoms early on, triage to a suitable stroke center, and rapid evaluation and investigation by the attending stroke team. In properly chosen patients, intravenous thrombolysis and/or endovascular thrombectomy are used to accomplish recanalisation and reperfusion of the ischemic penumbra. All patients should be admitted to an acute stroke unit for careful monitoring to avoid subsequent problems and early neurological impairment. Patients may begin appropriate secondary preventive therapy as soon as the mechanism of stroke is identified. Future goals include making endovascular thrombectomy more accessible, extending treatment windows with improved imaging, and finding neuroprotective medicines to avoid subsequent neuronal injury.