CALGARY - New research out of the University of Calgary is showing that there may be more time than first thought to prevent permanent damage during a stroke.

The new research was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and is a combination of ideas about the new standard of care for acute ischemic stroke.

Before the study, it was thought patients had just six hours to benefit from therapy but the study suggests brain damage can still be diminished after seven hours.

The procedure is called Endovascular Thrombectomy and involves the use of a clot busting drug combined with an intravenous stent procedure to pull out the blockage.

Dr. Michael Hill, a stroke neurologist at Foothills Medical Centre, says the researchers gathered information from a number of trials to establish a better understanding of what the time limits are for application of the therapy.

He tells CTV Calgary it's proven to be effective.

“What’s new for us is the real understanding that we can extend the time window in selected patients to longer times," says Hill. "That’s really helpful for us in Alberta because we have a huge geographic region to deal with so flying someone from say, High Level down to Edmonton, is still potentially a good idea for treating stroke.”

The findings also reinforce the need for speed between first responders and specialists so that patients reach the right facility for the correct treatment.

“It still means that we have to get people into hospital quickly so that we can assess them, image them, see whether they’re eligible for this therapy and then apply it as quickly as we can."

Hill says people need to learn to recognize a stroke in order to get help quickly.

“It’s really imperative that we educate as much of the public as possible because it you know what the type of stroke, or what a stroke is, you’ll be able to help your brother or your mother or your grandmother to identify a stroke, call 911 and get into hospital,” he says.

“So if I treat someone at two hours, they’re much more likely to have a good outcome than if I treat someone at four hours or six hours but what we’ve learned is that we can maybe extend this time limit out to seven or nearly seven and a half hours and still see benefit on average.”

(CTV Calgary)

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