Voa K et al. - Published online before print October 1, 2015, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A4530AJNR 2015 36: 2206-2213
Review Article
"SUMMARY: In April 2015, the American Roentgen Ray Society and the American Society of Neuroradiology cosponsored a unique program designed to evaluate the state of the art in the imaging work-up of acute stroke. This topic has grown in importance because of the recent randomized controlled trials demonstrating the clear efficacy of endovascular stroke treatment. The authors, who were participants in that symposium, will highlight the points of emphasis in this article...
Conclusions
As we enter this new era of acute stroke therapeutics, our reliance on rapid diagnostic imaging to help guide therapy will continue to increase. The goal of imaging is to enhance the therapeutic index of available treatment options by selecting patients who have the greatest potential to benefit. Vital to the efficacy of any acute stroke treatment is time; therefore, diagnostic tests must be fast, reliable, and operationally efficient. Current treatment algorithms favor multimodal CT imaging even though MR imaging may be superior in individual diagnostic tasks. MR imaging shows promise in providing signatures for penumbra and core and may one day provide information beyond anatomic large-vessel occlusion to help guide advanced endovascular approaches as our therapeutic and diagnostic technology evolves."