BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to present our initial experience with the use of intravenous thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute ischaemic stroke in the 2nd Department of Neurology of the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in the years 2003-2007. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients were selected and treated with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA, alteplase) according to the SITS-MOST (Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke - Monitoring Study) protocol. RESULTS: We present the data on the first 100 patients treated with rt-PA in our department. The mean age of the treated patients was 67 years, the initial neurological deficit measured in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was 8 pts., the door-to-needle time was 82 minutes. At 3-month follow-up, 61% of patients had achieved modified Rankin scale score of 0-2. Fourteen percent had died within three months of stroke onset. We observed 2 symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhages and there were 17 cases of secondary asymptomatic haemorrhagic transformations (6 cases with haemorrhagic infarct type 2, 11 cases with primary intracerebral haemorrhage, and 6 cases with remote primary intracerebral haemorrhage type 1). CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with the previous experience of other stroke centres and confirm that rt-PA is safe and effective in ischaemic stroke treatment also in the Polish population.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to present our initial experience with the use of intravenous thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute ischaemic stroke in the 2nd Department of Neurology of the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in the years 2003-2007. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The patients were selected and treated with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA, alteplase) according to the SITS-MOST (Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke - Monitoring Study) protocol. RESULTS: We present the data on the first 100 patients treated with rt-PA in our department. The mean age of the treated patients was 67 years, the initial neurological deficit measured in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was 8 pts., the door-to-needle time was 82 minutes. At 3-month follow-up, 61% of patients had achieved modified Rankin scale score of 0-2. Fourteen percent had died within three months of stroke onset. We observed 2 symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhages and there were 17 cases of secondary asymptomatic haemorrhagic transformations (6 cases with haemorrhagic infarct type 2, 11 cases with primary intracerebral haemorrhage, and 6 cases with remote primary intracerebral haemorrhage type 1). CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with the previous experience of other stroke centres and confirm that rt-PA is safe and effective in ischaemic stroke treatment also in the Polish population.