(This is an excerpt from the Health Rounds newsletter, where we publish the latest medical research on Tuesdays and Thursdays)
Nancy Rapid
Dec 3 (Reuters) – Stroke patients who cannot reach hospitals quickly enough to receive routine thrombolytic treatment may soon have another option, results from a mid-stage trial suggest.
Currently available thrombolytic drugs must be given within a few hours of the onset of symptoms. This narrow window could exclude patients who did not or were unable to seek help immediately because they did not immediately recognize their symptoms, as well as those who woke up with symptoms of a stroke that may have started hours earlier.
The experimental drug, developed by Silver Creek Pharmaceuticals and called scp776, inhibits apoptosis, the process by which damaged cells destroy themselves.
The drug keeps damaged cells alive by releasing a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which activates the cells’ natural repair pathways.
Researchers reported at the 2025 World Stroke Congress in Barcelona that scp776 led to clinically meaningful improvements in outcomes compared with placebo in 119 patients who came to the emergency department an average of about 12 hours after stroke onset (for which there is no approved drug treatment).
“It is very promising to see a therapy that leverages the brain’s own recovery mechanisms to improve stroke outcomes in the clinic,” Kris Kuchenbecker, chief scientific officer at Silver Creek, said in a statement.
At discharge or on day 7 after symptom onset, patients who received scp776 had an average 2.26-point higher clinical score on the 42-point NIH Stroke Scale compared with patients who received placebo, but the difference only fell short of statistical significance.
Researchers reported that after 90 days, treatment led to a 15% relative increase in the proportion of patients achieving functional independence.
The drug has received FDA Fast Track designation to treat acute ischemic stroke caused by blockage of arteries that carry blood to the brain. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration grants this designation to expedite the development and review of treatments for serious diseases with unmet need.
“Scp776 exploits the well-known repair ability of growth factors in a targeted manner, ultimately providing substantial preclinical evidence of the therapeutic benefits of IGF-1,” said Kuchenbecker.
Artificial intelligence improves screening for fetal heart problems
Results of a new study suggest that artificial intelligence software could improve fetal screening for congenital heart disease.
Using tools from medical company BrightHeart, the researchers analyzed 200 fetal ultrasound scans obtained in the second trimester of pregnancy from women at 11 medical centers in two countries. 100 of them had at least one suspicious finding.
Seven obstetricians and gynecologists and seven doctors who specialize in high-risk pregnancies reviewed each test in random order, with or without artificial intelligence assistance, looking for results that might indicate serious heart defects.
Doctors found more suspicious lesions in less time using artificial intelligence than without it, according to a report in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Overall, their detection rate increased from 82% to over 97%, reading time decreased by 18%, and confidence scores increased by 19%.
“Our study should promote and encourage future research into the ability of AI-assisted software to improve detection rates… (and) reduce variability and inequities in congenital heart disease testing globally,” study co-lead author Dr. Andrei Rebarber of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said in a statement.
“The future of prenatal diagnostic imaging is bright when AI software is used as an aid to physician interpretation.”
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(Reporting by Nancy Rapid; Editing by Bill Burkrot)
