Hat tip to Domhnall for the heads up on this one.
The BMJ runs a series of head to head articles where two sides of a debate are presented. They tend to be written by the main players and always make for interesting reading. Following on from the recent controversy over their piece on guidelines for thrombolysis in stroke it seems that the BMJ have taken on stroke lytics as a suitably contested issue to justify a head to head. The head to head is definitely worth a read.
I’ve written before on lytics for stroke but find my sceptical position to be the minority among my local colleagues and certainly amongst the wider medical establishment.
It’s nice to see the debate getting a wider audience
There’s also an associated poll where you can vote on whether harms outweigh benefits. As of today (wednesday 5th at 17:30) there’s a slight majority 52% suggesting harms outweigh benefits. This isn’t the x-factor remember but it’s nice to take your chance to have your say so I suggest head over now. (it’s at the bottom left corner of the home page)