Background Being cardiovascular diseases the leading cause of death worldwide, a prompt intervention is needed to restore blood flow. Sonothrombolysis with/without addiction of thrombolytic drugs is explored as a promising solution, thanks to its non-invasiveness, precision and action quickness. Even if the involved mechanisms are not completely understood, acoustic cavitation seems to play a s...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Sonothrombolysis is a new treatment approach in acute ischemic stroke. The results of a monocenter, randomized clinical study are presented. METHODS Subjects with acute middle cerebral artery main stem occlusion were randomized into a target group receiving 1-hour transcranial continuous insonation using a 1.8-MHz Doppler ultrasound (US) probe or a control group. All un...

Urgent reperfusion of the ischaemic brain is the aim of stroke treatment and there has been ongoing research to find a drug that can promote vessel recanalisation more completely and with less side effects. In this review article, the major studies which have validated the use and safety of tPA are discussed. The safety and efficacy of other thrombolytic and anticoagulative agents such as tenec...