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Marc Fisher, MD; Michael S. Pessin, MD; Anthony J. Furian, MD

JAMA. 1995;274(13):1058-1059.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS)¹ marks an important milestone along the road toward an effective therapy for acute ischemic stroke. Well-conceived and performed, ECASS is the first large, randomized, blinded study of high-dose intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) designed to determine if this thrombolytic therapy is efficacious and safe in acute stroke patients. More than 600 patients were recruited within 6 hours of stroke onset at 75 centers in 14 countries, demonstrating that large multinational acute stroke therapy trials are feasible and can accrue patients more rapidly than anticipated. Most importantly, current hypotheses about preventing the conversion of ischemic tissue to completed infarction suggest that early initiation of thrombolytic or neuroprotective therapy² is essential. ECASS and the earlier monoganglioside GM1 trial³ demonstrate that early initiation is possible.

See also p 1017.

Disappointingly, the intention-to-treat analysis for clinical efficacy revealed no benefit for rt-PA intervention; . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Neurology, the Medical Center of Central Massachusetts and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester (Dr Fisher); New England Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass (Dr Pessin); and the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic Foundation (Dr Furian).

Footnotes
Dr Fisher is a consultant to Cambridge Neuroscience and Lorex (both consultancies are related to neuroprotective substances); Dr Pessin is a consultant to Cambridge Neuroscience (neuroprotective substances) and Abbott Laboratories (intraarterial thrombolysis trial).

Reprint requests to Medical Center of Central Massachusetts, 119 Belmont St, Worcester, MA 01605 (Dr Fisher).

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