Is counterpulsation a potential therapy for ischemic stroke?
GROUND: Despite the rapid progress in stroke prevention, effective acute stroke treatment except for thrombolysis is still lacking. Hypoperfusion is related to unfavorable functional outcome, further strokes and long-term mortality. Therefore, the need for a safe and effective way of increasing the cerebral blood flow seems obvious. Currently, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that external counterpulsation (ECP) may enhance the blood supply to the brain and thus may be beneficial to patients with ischemic stroke. METHODS: A MEDLINE search in combination with a search for papers in Chinese literature in the Wan Fang and China Academic Journal databases was carried out. RESULTS: Preliminary investigations suggested that ECP may improve the clinical outcome of stroke patients. However, well-designed clinical studies exploring the therapeutic effects of ECP in ischemic stroke are very limited. CONCLUSIONS: Randomized-controlled trials with a large sample size are needed to fu
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