Abstract

The Third European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS-3) demonstrated a benefit of treatment with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for acute stroke in the 3- to 4.5-hour time-window. Prior studies, however, have failed to demonstrate a significant benefit of tPA for patients treated beyond 3 hours. The purpose of this study was to produce reliable and precise estimates of the treatment effect of tPA by pooling data from all relevant studies.A metaanalysis was undertaken to determine the efficacy of tPA in the 3- to 4.5-hour time-window. The effect of tPA on favorable outcome and mortality was assessed.The metaanalysis included data from patients treated in the 3- to 4.5-hour time-window in ECASS-1 (n=234), ECASS-2 (n=265), ECASS-3 (n=821) and The Alteplase Thrombolysis for Acute Noninterventional Therapy in Ischemic Stroke (ATLANTIS) (n=302). tPA treatment was associated with an increased chance of favorable outcome (odds ratio 1.31; 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.56; P=0.002) and no significant difference in mortality (odds ratio 1.04; 95% CI: 0.75 to 1.43; P=0.83) compared to placebo treated patients.Treatment with tPA in the 3- to 4.5-hour time-window is beneficial. It results in an increased rate of favorable outcome without adversely affecting mortality.

View details for DOI 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.552547

View details for Web of Science ID 000267467900026

View details for PubMedID 19478213

View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2725521