摘要
Since the approval of intravenous(IV)tissue plasminogen activator(tPA)to treat patients with acute ischaemic stroke(AIS)within 3 hours of onset in 1996,it took 12 years to expand the treatment time window to 4.5 hours by the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Trial II(ECASS III).1 It took another 10 years to expand the treatment time window to 6 hours with the bridging of IV tPA and intra-arterial(IA)thrombectomy.2 In 2018,22 years later after the approval of IV tPA and less than 3 years from the approval of IA thrombectomy,we have learnt that IA thrombectomy was effective in treating patients with AIS from large vessel occlusion(LVO)type of stroke up to 24 hours.3 This continued expansion of the treatment time window has brought hope to many patients with stroke who will present to the emergency room at a later time.
