Acute ischemic stroke treatment in 2007.

A variety of interventions have proven effective in reducing the risk of a first stroke.1 Nevertheless, each year, more than 700 000 Americans have strokes and more than 150 000 die, making stroke the country’s third-leading cause of death.2 More than 25% of stroke survivors older than age 65 years are disabled 6 months later.2 On the basis of the results of prospective randomized clinical trials and other studies performed over the past decade, the general approach to the management of acute stroke has evolved from nihilism to active intervention.