DAWN

About the Trial

DAWN randomized 206 patients with large vessel occlusion strokes, last seen well 6 to 24 hours earlier, whose clinical deficit was disproportionately severe relative to the infarct on imaging, to mechanical thrombectomy plus medical therapy or medical therapy alone. Functional independence at 90 days was achieved by 49 percent of thrombectomy patients versus 13 percent of controls, and the trial was stopped early for efficacy. Together with DEFUSE 3, published the same year, it shifted stroke care from a fixed time window toward tissue based selection using perfusion imaging, enabling treatment of patients who wake up with strokes or arrive late.