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NICE Issues Guidance on the Use of Clot-Busters in the Treatment of Strokes

June 28, 2007

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance on the use of the clot-busting drug alteplase for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke.

NICE has recommended alteplase within the National Health Service as long as it is used in accordance with the safety rules already set out in the drug’s license.

Altephase and similar drugs work by breaking down clots quickly, reducing the complications of stroke, the agency said.

Andrea Sutcliffe, NICE’s deputy chief executive, said, “It is important that patients receive treatments that can help to reduce the effects of a stroke as quickly as possible. [This] guidance recommending the use of alteplase where clinically appropriate has the potential to have a significant impact on the treatment of hundreds of thousands of patients.”