Increasing use of intravenous rt-PA does not affect safety in acute stroke

Intravenous thrombolysis with rt-PA improves outcome in acute ischemic stroke. In a prospective study we analyzed the annual frequency of rt-PA treatment, its safety, and early clinical outcome. All patients admitted to our stroke unit (SU) from 1998 to 2003 were registered in a prospective data base. Documented data included patient age, sex, time interval until admission, initial therapy (e. g., thrombolysis), death, intracerebral hemorrhage, other complications, and score on the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). From 1998 to 2003, a total of 112 patients were treated with systemic thrombolysis. The number of acute stroke patients admitted within 2.5 hours and therefore eligible for thrombolysis did not substantially change between 1998 and 2003. From 1998 to 2001 the percentage of acute stroke patients that received rt-PA was stable (12.6-16.9 %). This percentage increased in 2002 (29.6%, p