A study carried out into a new treatment of strokes has shown that it significantly reduces disability and deaths from the condition.
The clot retrieval procedure known as endo-vascular treatment was examined by researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
The study involved patients who had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, which is caused by a clot in the brain, and accounts for 80% of all strokes.
It has been described as the most significant development in stroke treatment in the past two decades.
Positive outcomes for patients receiving the new "clot removal" treatment increased from 30% to 55%.
In many cases, instead of suffering major neurological disability, patients went home to resume their lives.
The overall mortality rate was reduced by 50%, from two in ten patients for standard treatment of care, to one in ten patients out of those who received the new treatment.
Professor David Williams, one of the co-leads on the international study said:"The results of this study represent the most significant development in stroke treatment in the past 20 years and will impact stroke care in Ireland and around the world.
"More than 10,000 people in Ireland are admitted to hospital with stroke annually and many of those who survive are left with significant disabilities.
"This treatment has the potential to improve survival rates and quality of life of more than 15 million people worldwide who suffer a stroke each year.
Continued here:
New breakthrough in stroke treatment