Stroke survivors have described a new treatment Australian doctors have spearheaded as a major breakthrough.

Researchers at Royal Melbourne Hospital announced today they had proved the effectiveness of a new technique that almost doubles the chances patients will walk out of hospital

The researchers combined two types of stroke treatment with new technology to improve the outcomes for people with the most severe form of stroke.

William Lo said the development was a major breakthrough.

The 21-year-old had a stroke just a week before sitting his final school exams.

He lost movement in his left side, spent four months in hospital and a year regaining most movement.

He could not walk, eat, drive, play basketball and was in a wheelchair for his 18th birthday.

"My friends from high school had to think what was appropriate to involve me in, going to the beach, going to the city, it was hard."

Three years after the stroke he is still going through rehabilitation.

He said the new research would hopefully prevent as many people going through the same difficulties as him.

Under the new approach, doctors used advanced brain imaging to identify which parts of the brain were irreversibly damaged and which parts were salvageable.

They then used new stent technology to remove the clot.

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When combined with traditional clot-busting medication the proportion of patients who did not sustain a disability after the stroke went from 40 to 70 per cent.

Researchers will present the results this morning at a major stroke conference in Nashville in the United States.

The study involved 14 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand and was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Foundation wants guidelines amended

The National Stroke Foundation welcomed news of the study.

Chief executive Dr Erin Lalor said all new evidence should be considered and incorporated in the stroke clinical guidelines.

Dr Bruce Campbell said one of the key features of the study was advanced brain imaging. ( ABC News )

"It is critical the stroke clinical guidelines reflect the best practice in stroke treatment to get the best possible outcomes for Australian patients," Dr Lalor said.

"The development of new stroke clinical guidelines will provide certainty and support for stroke clinicians to deliver the most up-to-date evidence-based stroke care for their

patients."

Dr Lalor said the number of Australians living with the impact of stroke was predicted to increase from 440,000 to almost one million by 2050.

"Many will be left with an unnecessary disability unless we take action now."

The new approach to treatment is major news for the one-in-six Australians who will suffer a stroke in their lifetime.

Almost two thirds of those who have a stroke develop some form of disability as a result.

The new approach would benefit those who suffer the most extreme form of stroke known as ischemic stroke, where a clot blocks an artery.

Removing the clot allows blood flow to return to the brain, which is critical in stroke recovery.

Lead investigator, neurologist Dr Bruce Campbell, said one of the key features of the study was advanced brain imaging.

"To actually look into a patient's brain and see which parts were already irreversibly damaged that we couldn't save, versus how much was actually salvageable if we could get the artery open quickly is a major difference between our trial and many of the other trials,'' Dr Campbell said.

"This is a treatment that applies to patients with the most severe types of strokes, the strokes that are likely to cause disability, people who end up in nursing homes or even dead, and so it is a major advance."

Fellow investigator Associate Professor Peter Mitchell said it was a "revolutionary" development that was being welcomed worldwide.

"I think it offers hope that hasn't necessarily been there before,'' he said.

"We've had these spectacular anecdotal reports where we remove the blood clot, someone is densely paralysed in their arm or leg, can't speak and then on the table, or within 24 hours they're almost normal and they can go home within a couple of days."

New treatment saved truck driver after stroke collapse

Among those to benefit from the work is Melbourne truck driver Sam Kalogiannopoulos.

Mr Kalogiannopoulos was driving one day when his vision went blurry. He went back to the station and collapsed.

Mr Kalogiannopoulos said the treatment saved his life and he wants others to be aware of the symptoms of stroke. ( ABC News )

He was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital where he was given the life-saving treatment.

"There was no history of stroke in my family,'' Mr Kalogiannopoulos said.

"I didn't believe I had a stroke. I just collapsed pretty much. I thought something was wrong with my leg actually."

He says the treatment saved his life and he wants others to be aware of the symptoms of stroke.

"I look at life differently now knowing that I've got a second chance. It's hard to describe my feelings actually.''