Arterial occlusion sites on magnetic resonance angiography influence the efficacy of intravenous low-dose (0.6 mg/kg) alteplase therapy for ischaemic stroke.

AIMS

To determine the predictors of efficacy, including magnetic resonance imaging information, for low-dose intravenous alteplase therapy for stroke patients.

METHODS

Seventy-eight patients were prospectively enrolled in a single Stroke Unit (SU) receiving alteplase at a dose of 0.6 mg/kg during the initial 27 months after its approval in Japan. Ischaemic changes and vascular lesions were identified using computed tomography, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetic resonance angiography. Early ischaemic signs were assessed using the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score.

RESULTS

The median baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of 78 patients was 12. In 19 patients (24%), the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score improved by >or=8 points at 24 h. After multivariate adjustment, occlusion at the internal carotid artery (odds ratio 11.82, 95% confidence interval 1.73-142.74), Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score on diffusion-weighted imaging <or=6 (15.23, 1.88-351.50), and a lower National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (1.24, 1.08-1.47, per 1-point decrease) were inversely correlated with early improvement. Four patients (5%) had symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. At 3 months, 76 patients (98%) survived, and 36 of 78 patients (46%) overall, but only two of 19 patients (11%) with internal carotid artery occlusion, had a favourable functional outcome, corresponding to a modified Rankin scale score <or=1. After multivariate adjustment, internal carotid artery occlusion (odds ratio 15.84, 95% confidence interval 3.12-128.69) and Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score on diffusion-weighted imaging <or=6 (15.62, 1.78-410.12) were independent predictors of poor outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Intravenous alteplase therapy at a dose of 0.6 mg/kg resulted in a relatively good overall outcome when compared with outcomes reported by western studies using an alteplase dose of 0.9 mg/kg. However, patients with occlusion at the internal carotid artery did not respond to this low-dose alteplase therapy.