BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A new study by the National Institutes of Health in Maryland says magnetic resonance imaging is more sensitive than computed tomography in diagnosing strokes.
The study is good news for patients, said Walter J. Koroshetz, deputy director of the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
"This study shows that approximately 25 percent of stroke patients who come to the hospital within three hours of onset, the time frame for approved clot-busting therapy, have no detectable signs of damage," he said. "In other words, brain injury may be completely avoided in some stroke victims by quick re-opening of the blocked blood vessel."
The NIH research showed that MRI was five times more sensitive than, and twice as accurate as, computed tomography, or CT, for diagnosing ischemic stroke.
"Based on these results, MRI should become the preferred imaging technique for diagnosing patients with acute stroke," said Steven Warach, director of the NINDS Stroke Diagnostics and Therapeutic Section and senior investigator of the study.
