Sonothrombolysis: an emerging modality for the treatment of acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

To date, it is believed that rapid removal of impedances hindering normal blood circulation in the brain would salvage ischemic tissue. Hence, most treatment modalities undergoing clinical evaluation for treatment of stroke are focused on faster recanalization in acute ischemic stroke or faster hematoma mass reduction in hemorrhagic stroke. Therapeutic ultrasound is among the promising emerging modalities being clinically evaluated to meet this purpose. This review provides an overview of existing clinical data in evaluating sonothrombolysis applications in treatment of acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Furthermore, the present status of clinical evaluation of microbubbles as a potential adjuvant to this modality is reviewed.