Clot-buster may work better in women than men

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who suffer a stroke caused by a blockage in the middle cerebral artery -- a main artery supplying blood to the brain -- appear to benefit more than men from treatment with the clot-busting drug prourokinase, research hints.

In a large treatment trial, both male and female stroke patients who were treated with prourokinase had better outcomes than control stroke patients who were not treated with this drug, Dr. Michael D. Hill and colleagues from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada report in the journal Stroke.

However, women treated with prourokinase showed a larger treatment effect (20 percent absolute benefit) compared with men (10 percent absolute benefit).

The reason for this was that the outcome was worse for untreated women than for untreated men. Improved restoration of blood flow at 2 hours among women did not explain the reasons for effect modification.

"It is important to recognize that caution is warranted in interpreting these findings," Hill and colleagues explain. "Why the interaction effect is present ... remains unclear."

SOURCE: Stroke September 2006.