ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: Currentlythere is limitedintervention for acute ischemic stroke. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) has been approved for immediate recanalization after a steno-occlusive lesion of cerebral vessels. rTPA has shown its efficacy and safety from several clinical trials. The present study reports our experience with intravenous rTPA from several centers in the Philippines.Method:This is a retrospective cohort study consisting of 157 patients who qualified to receive rTPA following the NINDS trial inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary outcome is in-hospital and 3-months mortality. Other outcome measures were determined: intracranial hemorrhage secondary to hemorrhagic conversion and functional outcome as measured by modified Rankin Scale. Additionally, standard dose (0.9mg/kg) was compared to low dose (0.6mg/kg) of rTPA in terms of mortality, intracranial bleeding and functional outcome.Results:The in-hospital mortality was seen in 23 (14.6%) and total death within 3 months was 18.3%. Independent patient (mRS 0-2) was seen in 69 (51.1%) at discharge and 95 (73.1%) at 3 months. Intracranial bleeding due to asymptomatic hemorrhagic transformation occurred in 39 (24.8%) and symptomatic hemorrhagic transformation was seen in 19 (12.1%).Conclusion: Comparing our results with SITS-MOST and Cochrane collaborations, our data showed that we have more independent patients however death and intracranial bleeding was noted to be high in our cohort of patients. Additionally, the study showed more independent patients in the low dose group.