A "MIRACULOUS" drug that can reverse the devastating effects of a severe stroke is likely to be given to more North-East patients.

It follows a decision by licensing authorities to allow a powerful clot-busting drug normally used on heart patients to be given to selected stroke patients.

The only drawback - and one which places huge demands on the NHS - is that it must be given within three hours of the stroke taking place.

The relaxation of restrictions is expected to lead to more stroke patients being given the same kind of fast-track treatment as heart attack victims.

Initially, it is likely to be patients treated at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle who will benefit first in the region.

But with the Government committed to improving stroke services across the UK, this may lead to other hospitals offering the same service.

For the last four years, doctors at the Freeman have given the heart drug Recombinent Plasmogen Activator (rtPA) to a small number of severe stroke victims - in some cases completely restoring movement and speech.

Now the number of stroke patients receiving this radical new treatment in the region is likely to increase.

Last August, The Northern Echo told how an 83-year-old stroke victim at Bishop Auckland General Hospital made a remarkable recovery after her family agreed that she could be injected with the unlicensed drug as a last resort.

The family later described the patient's recovery as "like witnessing a miracle".

Until a few weeks ago, the drug could not be used on stroke patients without the consent of patients or their relatives.

But after growing international evidence of its effectiveness, the drug has been licensed in the UK for use within three hours of a stroke taking place.

This now means doctors at the Freeman's stroke unit can give the drug to carefully selected patients who may be incapable of speech.

Professor Gary Ford, a consultant stroke physician at the Freeman, said the hospital was one of about 15 in the UK to have regularly treated stroke patients with rtPA.

"We are one of the most experienced centres in the country so far as rtPA use is concerned," he said."We have given the drug to 41 patients. Of those about ten have done extremely well."

He agreed that the results of rtPA treatment could be remarkable if the patient is diagnosed, assessed, scanned and treated in time.

"You see some patients who improve dramatically shortly after the infusion," said Prof Ford.

"In the US, they treat patients with milder symptoms and we are beginning to understand that patients with more moderate strokes may benefit."

The Freeman has joined forces with colleagues in Glasgow to monitor the progress of all UK stroke patients given rtPA.

Prof Ford said he thought the extension of the licence would eventually lead to stroke patients being given the same sort of fast-track priority as heart attack victims.

He forecast that every small district general hospital would eventually have its own stroke specialists.

But Prof Ford said everyone, from members of the public to paramedics and doctors, needed to recognise the warning signs of a stroke.

"The challenge is how we can get more patients in quickly, how we can get people in the community to become more aware of the signs and symptoms of strokes, such as a face, leg and arm weakness and loss of speech," he said.