St. Mary’s Medical Center doctors are joining an international clinical study, SWIFT PRIME, to examine the adjunctive use of mechanical thrombectomy during the early stages of acute ischemic stroke onset.
The randomized controlled trial may enroll up to 800 patients across 60 centers globally and will examine acute ischemic stroke patients treated with either intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) alone or IV tPA in combination with Covidien’s Solitaire™ FR Revascularization Device, an overlapping stent-based technology that provides substantially improved clinical outcomes to the previous generation of devices. The study will also include an extensive health economics analysis.
“Part of our responsibility as a Comprehensive Stroke Center is to do research and educate,” said Dr. Ali Malek, the trial’s principal investigator and Medical Director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at St. Mary’s Medical Center. “Participating in this study allows us to be proactive in searching for the best way to treat acute ischemic stroke patients.”
