Dawn of a New Era for Stroke Treatment

Until recently, the selection of patients with large artery occlusion and ischemic stroke for reperfusion therapy was based on time criteria (typically within 6 hours) and basic imaging protocols (head CT, CT angiogram, ASPECTS score). The recently published DAWN (DWI or CTP Assessment with Clinical Mismatch in the Triage of Wake-Up and Late Presenting Strokes Undergoing Neurointervention with Trevo) study has changed this paradigm by using a tissue-based selection criteria and a greatly expanded treatment time window (up to 24 hours). This is a transformational change in acute stroke therapy and has implications for many healthcare providers and EMS systems.