Antiplatelet, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic agents in acute ischaemic stroke and TIA.

In acute ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attacks both platelets and coagulation factors are activated. This is the rationale for the use of antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents in the prevention of acute ischaemic stroke. Evidence also suggests that antiplatelet agents anticoagulants and dissolution of a thrombus occluding a major cerebral vessel (by means of fibrinolytic agents) may be beneficial as therapy for the acute phase of ischaemic stroke.