International Stroke Conference (ISC) 2025

Augmenting standard physical therapy (PT) with a progressively higher-intensity walking exercise programme in inpatient stroke rehabilitation units improved mobility and quality of life (QoL) in stroke survivors, a study has shown.

Treatment with colchicine appears to lower the risk of stroke and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) when used for longer duration, according to a study presented at ISC 2025. This beneficial effect, however, is not observed among patients with shorter follow-up duration.

The addition of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) to endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) provides significant clinical benefits to patients who experienced acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) caused by large vessel occlusion (LVO) with large ischaemic infarcts (LII), as shown by the findings of a meta-analysis presented at the recent ISC 2025.

A study presented at ISC 2025 shows elevated levels of Streptococcus (S.) anginosus – a type of bacteria present in the normal oral and gastrointestinal microflora – in the mouth and gut of recent stroke survivors in Japan.

For survivors of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) with atrial fibrillation (AF), the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) works to prevent ischaemic stroke events, but this benefit appears to be offset by major bleeding side effects, as shown in the open-label, phase III PRESTIGE-AF trial.