Treatment of Acute Ischemic Cerebrovascular Events Over the Past 30 Years: The Power of Evidence

Over the past 3 decades, evidence-based medicine has reshaped the clinical practice in cerebrovascular diseases. To reduce the disability risk of major ischemic stroke, treatment strategies primarily focus on reperfusion therapies, such as intravenous thrombolysis and intra-arterial thrombectomy. For nondisabling ischemic cerebrovascular events, important breakthroughs have been in the secondary prevention strategies using antiplatelet therapies. Even with these notable progresses in treatment and preventive strategies, the risk of recurrent strokes, disabilities, and mortality still remains substantially high. There is in great demand for further research and developing new drugs and new treatment strategies. This article will review previous studies on ischemic stroke and discuss directions for possible future research.