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Diagnosis and management of acute stroke must be exceptionally rapid and, of course, effective. Two new studies help to solidify best practices in acute-stroke care.
In a single-center, blinded study, U.S. researchers compared noncontrast computed tomography (CT) with diffusion- and susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for emergency diagnosis of 356 consecutive patients with suspected stroke. Acute stroke was the final clinical diagnosis in 217 patients. MRI was significantly better than CT for diagnosing any acute stroke, acute ischemic stroke, and chronic intracranial hemorrhage; MRI and CT performed similarly for diagnosing acute intracranial hemorrhage. Overall, acute-stroke diagnostic accuracy was 89% with MRI and 54…