BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Laboratory experiments suggest statins reduce stroke severity and improve outcomes. The Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial was a placebo-controlled, randomized trial designed to determine whether treatment with atorvastatin reduces strokes in subjects with recent stroke or transient ischemic attack (n=4731). We analyzed SPARCL t...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) is the most prevalent outcome measure in stroke trials. Use of the mRS may be hampered by variability in grading. Previous estimates of the properties of the mRS have used diverse methodologies and may not apply to contemporary trial populations. We used a mock clinical trial design to explore inter- and intraobserver variability of the mRS...

Methods Recanalization was assessed using the modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score. Neurological outcomes were assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and modified Rankin Scale. Results Fifteen patients were evaluated. The mTICI score was 2b-3 in 80%, and it was 3 in 60% of patients. No intracranial hemorrhage was seen. At three months, modified Ran...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke in patients aged > 80 years is not approved in some countries due to limited trial data in the very elderly. We compared outcomes between thrombolysed and nonthrombolysed (control) patients from neuroprotection trials to assess any influence of age on response. Method-Among patients with ischemic stroke of known age, pretreatment sev...

We aimed to evaluate the reliability of the modified Rankin Scale applied telephonically compared with face-to-face assessment in clinically stable hospitalized patients with acute stroke. One hundred and thirty-one patients were interviewed twice by 2 certified nurses (unstructured interview). Half of the patients were randomized to be interviewed by telephone followed by the face-to-face asse...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) is a popular primary stroke outcome measure, but its usefulness is limited by suboptimal reliability (inter-rater agreement). METHODS We developed and tested the reliability of a simplified mRS questionnaire (smRSq) in 50 patients after stroke seen in outpatient clinics. Randomly chosen paired raters administered the smRSq within 20 minut...

BACKGROUND Randomized trials of thrombolytic stroke treatment have either excluded patients with posterior circulation ischemia or used inclusion criteria making enrollment of these patients less likely. Consequently, there is less published information on thrombolytic therapy for posterior circulation stroke. OBJECTIVE To determine effective thrombolytic treatment times for posterior circula...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The modified Rankin Scale rates global disability after stroke and is the most comprehensive and widely used primary outcome measure in acute stroke trials. However, substantial interobserver variability in modified Rankin Scale scoring has been reported. This study sought to develop and validate a short, practicable structured assessment that would enhance interrater rel...