Discovery, development and effectiveness of coagulation-inhibiting drugs for stroke therapy.
BACKGROUND
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US and the leading cause of major disability. A large variety of drugs and new therapeutic strategies are the basis for modern stroke therapy. There is scientific evidence for the effectiveness of only a few coagulation-inhibiting drugs for stroke prevention and treatment, but a lot of clinical trials have been conducted or are ongoing in order to gain more scientific data on stroke management and therapy.


METHODS
This paper gives a general overview of modern coagulation-inhibiting drugs discovered and investigated for prevention or acute stroke therapy and offers prospects of future therapy options.


CONCLUSIONS
Without the development of more cost-effective future therapies and implementation of extended prevention programs, stroke will remain the leading cause of disability. There is still a strong need for the discovery of novel drug therapies that effectively avoid blood clotting and stroke without increasing the risk of hemorrhage.
Head of Neurointervention, University Clinic Salzburg, Christian Doppler Clinic, Department of Neurology, Ignaz Harrer Str. 79, 5020 Salzburg, Austria  +43 662 4483 56058 ;  +43 662 3924 ;  m.killer@salk.at.
Monika
M
Killer
Eugen
E
Trinka
Jörg
J
Kraus
Erasmia
E
Broussalis