Intravenous thrombolysis given within 3 hours resulted in better quality of life of the patients and lower cost (dominant strategy) compared with no thrombolytic treat-ment. Thrombolytic therapy given between 3 and 5 hours is more likely to have negative than positive total effects on health. Treatment in this time interval was less expensive than traditional therapy in a life time perspective, however the choice of such treatment should also be considered based on other criteria, such as expected benefit of treatment and an ethical perspective.
Antiplatelet therapy with a combination of ASA and slow-release dipyridamole was a dominant strategy (more effective and lower cost) compared with only ASA and clopidogrel in secondary prophylaxis after stroke. Anticoagulation therapy with war-farin was a dominant strategy (more effective and lower cost) relative to ASA for stroke patients with atrial fibrillation.