Stroke

A 65-yr-old man is brought to the emergency department 30 min after the onset of right-sided weakness and aphasia (difficulty speaking). Imaging studies ruled out cerebral hemorrhage as the cause of his acute symptoms of stroke.

Questions and tasks

1. Prompt administration of which of the following drugs is most likely to improve this patient`s clinical outcome?

a) abciximab
b) alteplase
c) factor VIII
d) streptokinase
e) vitamin K

2. Over next 2 d, the patient`s symtpoms resolved completely. To prevent a recurrence of this disease, the patient is mostl likely to be treated indefinitely with which of the following?

a) aminocaproic acid
b) aspirin
c) enoxaparin
d) lepirudin
e) warfarin

3. If the patient is unable to tolerate the drug identified in previous question, he may be treated with clopidogrel. Relative to ticlopidine, clopidogrel:

a) has shorter duration of action
b) is less likely to cause neutropenia
c) is more likely to induce antiplatelet antibodies
d) is more likely to precipitate serious bleeding
e) will have greater antiplatelet effect

 

Solution