Safety and feasibility of intravenous thrombolytic therapy in Iranian patients with acute ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND Thrombolytic therapy is the only approved treatment for acute cerebral ischemia. The hemorrhagictransformation is the greatest complication of this treatment, which may occur after recanalization of occludedartery. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with clinical improvement and worseningin patients with acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis. METHODS Thirty seven patients who were treated with intravenous thrombolysis between August 2010 andAugust 2012 who had the inclusion criteria were studied. In this prospective study, all of the admitted patients instroke unit, monitored for at least 48 hours. We registered all patients' information in a stroke data registry andfollowed them for at least 6 months. RESULTS Thirty seven patients with acute ischemic stroke who treated with recombinant tissue plasminogenactivator (r-TPA) were studied. There were hemorrhagic transformations in 9 (24%) patients. Seven of them(18%) revealed intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH) within the control brain CT after 24 hours without any deteriorationof neurologic symptoms (asymptomatic ICH). Although outcomes of patients with symptomatic post r-TPA hemorrhages were worse than non-hemorrhagic post r-TPA patients, there were no significant differencesbetween asymptomatic post r-TPA hemorrhages and non-hemorrhagic post r-TPA patients, according to theNational Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at admission (p = 0.2), after 24 hours (p= 0.07) and after 7days (p= 0.06) post treatment. CONCLUSION If the r-TPA protocol is followed carefully, the risk of symptomatic hemorrhage is low (about7%). Taking r-TPA was feasible and safe in our study population; thus, it can be applied for other Iranian patients.