THRIVE score predicts ischemic stroke outcomes and thrombolytic hemorrhage risk in VISTA.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In previous studies, the Totaled Health Risks in Vascular Events (THRIVE) score has shown broad utility, allowing prediction of clinical outcome, death, and risk of hemorrhage after tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment, irrespective of the type of acute stroke therapy applied to the patient.

METHODS

We used data from the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive to further validate the THRIVE score in a large cohort of patients receiving tPA or no acute treatment, to confirm the relationship between THRIVE and hemorrhage after tPA, and to compare the THRIVE score with several other available outcome prediction scores.

RESULTS

The THRIVE score strongly predicts clinical outcome (odds ratio, 0.55 for good outcome [95% CI, 0.53-0.57]; P<0.001), mortality (odds ratio, 1.57 [95% confidence interval, 1.50-1.64]; P<0.001), and risk of intracerebral hemorrhage after tPA (odds ratio, 1.34 [95% confidence interval, 1.22-1.46]; P<0.001). The relationship between THRIVE score and outcome is not influenced by the independent relationship of tPA administration and outcome. In receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, the THRIVE score was superior to several other available outcome prediction scores in the prediction of clinical outcome and mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The THRIVE score is a simple-to-use tool to predict clinical outcome, mortality, and risk of hemorrhage after thrombolysis in patients with ischemic stroke. Despite its simplicity, the THRIVE score performs better than several other outcome prediction tools. A free Web calculator for the THRIVE score is available at http://www.thrivescore.org.