Low-cost alternatives for the management of acute ischemic stroke in low and middle-income countries

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients arriving within a suitable time frame are treated with recanalization therapy i.e. intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) with alteplase and/or mechanical thrombectomy (MT). IVT with alteplase is indicated in AIS patients presenting within 4.5 hours of onset regardless of vascular territory involved. MT is indicated in AIS patients presenting within 24 hours of onset with large vessel occlusion in the anterior circulation. However, MT is ludicrously expensive and requires exorbitant setup, devices, and expertise which is not currently feasible in LMICs. Therefore, in LMICs the only feasible recanalization option left for AIS patients is IVT. The cost of IVT varies across the LMICs, however, most of them cost around 2000–5000 USD. Apart from IVT, patients with AIS often have other significant medical costs including those for neuroimaging, intensive care, and prolonged rehabilitative treatment. In LMICs, these costs can only be afforded by a handful of patients. The majority of the LMICs have health insurance in their infancy and family members of AIS patients opt-out IVT due to the economic burden. In general, the current treatment guidelines for AIS are not very useful in LMICs because of cost-related issues among several other factors. In this editorial, we discuss evidence for alternative treatment strategies that can help tackle the rising epidemic of AIS in poor countries by improvising on existing clinical guidelines and seeking alternative treatment regimens.