Timing of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage after rt-PA treatment in ischemic stroke

Abstract

BackgroundWe investigated patterns in the time from recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) treatment to symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) onset in acute ischemic stroke.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all admitted “stroke code” patients from 2003 to 2017 at the University of California San Diego Medical Center from a prospective stroke registry. We selected patients that received IV rt-PA within 4.5 hours after onset/last known well and had sICH prehospital discharge. sICH diagnosis was made by prospective review. Endovascular-treated patients were excluded, given the variability of practice. sICH was prospectively defined as any new radiographic (CT/MRI) hemorrhage after rt-PA treatment and any worsened neurologic examination. Time to sICH was the time from rt-PA administration start to documented STAT head CT order time with the first evidence of new hemorrhage. Charts were reviewed for examination time metrics, demographics, clinical history, and neuroimaging.ResultssICH was identified in 28 rt-PA-only treated patients. The mean time to sICH was 18.28 hours (range 2.4–34 hours). Median time to sICH was 18.25 hours. sICH was correlated with increased age (p = 0.02) and increased NIH Stroke Scale (p = 0.01).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that rt-PA patients have the highest risk of post rt-PA sICH within the first 24 hours after treatment. This supports monitoring of rt-PA-treated patients in specialized settings such as neuro-intensive care units or stroke units. Our findings suggest that the probability of sICH is low 36 hours post rt-PA. Future larger studies are warranted to identify the patterns of bleeding after rt-PA administration.