Acute stroke is a neurologic emergency which should be preferentially treated in a Stroke Unit. The applications of general therapeutic measures in these units decreases the mortality or dependence in 29% of the cases. Thrombolytic treatment with rt-PA in the first 3 hours of cerebral ischemia reduces the risk of mortality or dependence at 3 months by 51%. This treatment should be used in centers with an adequate organization and experience in the management of stroke. Careful patient selection allows a favorable conscious risk/benefit when rt-PA is used in clinical practice. In the last decade numerous neuroprotector drugs have been developed which, despite decreasing the volume of the infarction in animal models, have not currently achieved a reduction in the mortality and morbidity of cerebral infarction in clinical trials. Ebselen, citicoline, piracetam and clomethiazol have shown beneficial effects in preliminary studies or in some subgroups of patients, but their use based on evidence is not recommendable. Anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs have not been shown to be effective in the acute phase of cerebral infarction. The neuroprotector effect of unfractionated heparin and glycoprotein IIb IIIa antagonists is still under study. Clopidogrel and the association of aspirin and dipiridamol are new alternatives to aspirin in the secondary prevention of cerebral infarction. Both options provide a lower risk of recurrence, and clopidogrel also shows better tolerance. The preventive effect of low intensity anticoagulation and statins is being analyzed in clinical studies.