Intravenous r-TPA in vertebrobasilar acute infarcts.

Presented are the clinical data of 18 consecutive patients who were treated by IV recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-TPA) for suspected vertebrobasilar (VB) acute ischemia within 7 hours. The mean delay for treatment was 5 +/- 3.6 hours. Mean baseline NIH Stroke Scale score was 17 +/- 4. At 3 months, 10 patients were independent (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] score = 0 to 2), whereas 8 patients showed a poor outcome (mRs = 3 to 6). IV r-TPA in VB ischemia in a 7-hour window may be safe and efficient.