[Treatment of acute cerebral ischaemia with low-molecular dextran: results of a retrospective study (author's transl)]

Between 1968 and 1970, 226 patients with acute cerebral ischaemia were treated with vasodilator drugs. In the subsequent three years (1971 to 1973) 202 patients were instead treated with dextran (Rheomacrodex) infusions. tin the latter period the death-rate was 35%, 19% less than during the preceding period of vasodilator treatment. In the dextran group among patients over 65 years the death-rate was 42%, 21% less than in the vasodilator group of the same age. Dextran treatment caused complete disappearance of neurological signs in 25%, compared with 7.5% in the vasodilator group. Dividing patients into those with normal blood pressure, hypertension and diabetes gave corresponding differences among the two groups. The death-rate during the period of dextran treatment was significantly less in all the sub-groups than in the vasodilator years. The results of this retrospective study provide important pointers to the effectiveness of dextran infusion in the treatment of acute cerebral ischaemia.