Imaging of acute ischemic stroke: Stroke CT angiography (CTA)

Abstract

Death or incapacitating disability can be prevented or diminished in some patients who present within 6 h of embolic stroke onset by thrombolytic therapy [1-16]. Conventional, noncontrast head CT (NCCT) scanning is performed on all patients prior to treatment in order to exclude hemorrhage or a large (greater than one-third middle cerebral artery [MCA] territory) infarction, both of which are contraindications to treatment [13, 15, 16]. The role of NCCT in the evaluation of acute stroke is fully discussed in the previous chapter. Although NCCT has some value in predicting patients most likely to be harmed by thrombolysis, it is of little value in predicting the patients most likely to benefit from thrombolysis-those with major artery occlusions. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.