RSS Feeds
Antithrombotic Therapy in Cerebrovascular Disease
- John F. Rothrock, MD; and
- Robert G. Hart, MD
Abstract
▪ For more than two decades, anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents have been used routinely to prevent and treat ischemic stroke. Although recent clinical trials have shown that such treatment can be helpful in certain cases, antithrombotic therapy currently remains of unproven benefit in many clinical settings of cerebrovascular disease. Although the absence of data confirming clinical efficacy has generated uncertainty and hesitancy in some clinicians, the lingering conviction that antithrombotic therapy is efficacious has led others to continue a policy of routine and active therapeutic intervention. A critical analysis of the literature on antithrombotic therapy and cerebrovascular disease suggests that many acceptable management options lie between the extremes of therapeutic nihilism and "routine" intervention.
Article and Author Information
-
From the University of California, San Diego, California; and the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas. For current author addresses, see end of text.
-
Requests for Reprints: John F. Rothrock, MD, Department of Neurology (H-815A), University of California, San Diego, Medical Center, 225 Dickinson Street, San Diego, CA 92103.
-
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Rothrock: Department of Neurology (8466), University of California, San Diego, Medical Center, 225 Dickinson Street, San Diego, CA 92103.
Dr. Hart: University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229.
- © 1991 American College of Physicians
Related Clinical Content
