Background: Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator therapy within 3 hours of stroke onset is a proven effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke.
Objective: To assess the feasibility and safety of rt-PA therapy for reperfusion in routine clinical practice in Israel, in the setting of a dedicated stroke unit.
Methods: Consecutive patients presenting within less than 3 hours of stroke onset were evaluated by an emergency physician and the neurology stroke team. After brain computerized tomography, eligible patients were treated with intravenous rt-PA (0.9 mg/kg, maximum dose 90 mg) according to an in-hospital protocol corresponding to recommended criteria. Patients were admitted to the acute stroke unit. Safety and clinical outcome were routinely assessed. Recanalization was assessed by serial transcranial Doppler.
Results: The study group comprised 16 patients, mean age 61 years (range 47-80 years), male to female ratio 10:6, whose median baseline National Institutes of Health stroke scale was 13 (range 6-24). They were treated within a mean door-to-CT time of 39 minutes (range 17-62 min), door-to-drug time 101 minutes (range 72-150), and stroke onset-to-drug time 151 minutes (range 90-180). There was an early improvement within 24 hours (of > or = 4 points in the NIHSS score) in 7 patients (44%) and no early deteriorations. There were no protocol deviations, no symptomatic intracranial hemorrhages, and no major systemic hemorrhage within 36 hours of rt-PA treatment. Three asymptomatic hemorrhagic transformations of the infarct were noted on routine follow-up brain CT associated with neurologic improvement. Outcome data were comparable to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke rt-PA Stroke Study.
Conclusion: Intravenous rt-PA treatment within 3 hours of stroke onset in routine clinical practice in Israel is feasible and appears safe in the setting of a neurology stroke unit and team. Careful implementation of rt-PA therapy for selected patients in Israel is encouraged.