Alteplase of benefit in lacunar stroke, study suggests
But there is a catch - MRI is needed to diagnose the infarct accurately
Patients with lacunar infarcts who reach hospital within 4.5 hours of onset will probably do as well with alteplase as people with other types of ischaemic stroke, a post-hoc trial analysis suggests.
There has been debate about whether lacunar infarcts — subcortical rounded, ovoid or tubular lesions (<20mm diameter) in regions supplied by penetrating arteries — will respond to thrombolysis, because the pathology of these infarcts is unclear.
