Clinical application of butylphthalide in massive cerebral infarction treatment

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of butylphthalide on the prognosis of acute massive cerebral infarction (MCI). Methods: A total of 92 MCI patients, who received inpatient treatment in the Department of Neurology, Harrison International Peace Hospital from February 2011 to December 2013, were enrolled into this study. As a controlled study, patients were randomly divided into two groups: control group (n=46) and treatment group (n=46). Patients in the control group were administered with an intravenous drip of edaravone, while patients in the treatment group were given edaravone combined with butylphthalide capsules. Furthermore, patients in the two groups underwent continuous administration for two weeks as a course of treatment. Improvement of symptoms in the two groups was assessed based on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The effect of butylphthalide on collateral circulation in the ischemic infarct area was assessed according to the collateral vessel grading standard of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), and these results were analyzed. Results: Symptoms and signs of patients in both the control and treatment groups improved to some extent. Improvement in patients in the treatment group was significantly better than patients in the control group (P<0.05). NIHSS scores of patients in the treatment group were better than that in the control group (P<0.05). Furthermore, SWI collateral vessel display grades of patients in both the control and treatment groups were upgraded, but the number of upgraded cases in treatment group was significantly larger than that in the control group (P<0.05). No obvious adverse reaction occurred in the two groups during the treatment. Conclusion: Butylphthalide exhibited good efficacy in the treatment of MCI, which could effectively improve nerve function defect and promote the re-formation of collateral circulation in the infarct area.