Medical treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

Progress in general symptomatic therapy such as avoidance of complications through nursing care, rehabilitation, and secondary prevention of stroke yield a better quality of life to stroke patients. Unfortunately, no specific drug therapy for acute stroke has been proven to be of benefit in controlled trials. However, new drugs and drug therapies such as thrombolytic therapy, 5-hydroxytryptamine agonists, NMDA receptor antagonists, and free radical scavengers are being studied.