Acute stroke: Imaging and intervention

“Stroke” is defined as sudden-onset nonconvulsive neurologic deficit of a cerebrovascular origin. Each year, in the United States, 350,000 people experience a first stroke, and another 100,000 have a recurrent attack. A total of 400,000 to 500,000 new strokes occur annually, and there are 3 million stroke survivors. Stroke is the #3 cause of death and the #1 cause of disability (1992 Heart and Stroke Facts. Dallas: American Heart Association, 1991;1–48). This article will review recent advances in echoplanar diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and intravenous thrombolytic therapy of acute stroke.