Steroids for stroke: another potential therapy discarded prematurely?

Abstract

Why do we discard potentially promising therapies so easily? First, the perception that the evidence has been adequately assessed becomes ingrained in the thought processes of everyday practitioners. Second, there is no commercial imperative to drive new trials of therapy. In virtually any modern review of acute stroke therapy, a statement is included that corticosteroids are disproven. However, when the evidence for use of steroids in stroke is examined in more detail, the data seem to be disturbingly sparse. For example, the Cochrane Review of steroids for acute ischemic stroke could identify only 7 trials that …