Recanalization within one hour after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator is associated with favorable outcome in acute stroke patients.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Early recanalization after tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) infusion greatly improves outcome in stroke patients. However, the time threshold of early recanalization for a favorable outcome remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess patient outcome 3 months after t-PA therapy among patients with early, delayed and without recanalization.

METHODS

Consecutive patients with major brain artery occlusion on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) before t-PA infusion were enrolled. We divided the patients into 3 groups according to the findings of follow-up MRA 1 and 24 h after t-PA: the early group who had recanalization within 1 h after t-PA; the delayed group who had recanalization between 1 and 24 h, and the no recanalization group. We then assessed the outcomes (modified Rankin score 0-1) 3 months after t-PA therapy among the 3 groups.

RESULTS

A total of 92 patients (53 men, mean age 75.8 +/- 10.3 years) were enrolled. A favorable outcome was most frequently observed in the early group (n = 39, 40.6%), followed by the delayed group (n = 25, 18.2%), and the no recanalization group (n = 28, 10.5%; p = 0.037). After adjusting for age, atrial fibrillation and NIHSS score, the adjusted OR for early recanalization when compared with no recanalization was 7.11 (95% CI 1.177-43.063; p = 0.032) for a favorable outcome, while the adjusted OR for delayed recanalization was 1.75 (95% CI 0.104-29.356; p = 0.698).

CONCLUSION

Early recanalization within 1 h after intravenous t-PA is associated with a favorable outcome in stroke patients.