Therapy against brain swelling in stroke patients. A retrospective clinical study on 227 patients.

The effectiveness of cerebral antiedema agents in stroke has been questioned. Animal and clinical work is inconclusive about steroids and osmotic drugs. A retrospective study of a continuous series of 227 stroke patients treated in the acute stage (some with dexamethasone alone, some with dexamethasone plus hyperosmotic mannitol infusions, and some without antiedema therapy) showed no significant difference in the ten-day survival rate. On this criterion, there is no ground for the systematic use of such agents against this type of brain swelling.