ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous thrombolysis with different doses of alteplase in the treatment of acute cerebral infarction in older adult patients.Methods:A total of 65 older adult patients with acute cerebral infarction (onset within 4.5 hours, age ≥ 75 years) who underwent intravenous thrombolysis in Wenzhou Central Hospital from February 2021 to February 2022 were included in this study. They were randomly assigned to undergo intravenous thrombolysis with either low dose alteplase (0.6 mg/kg, low dose group, n = 32) or standard dose alteplase (0.9 mg/kg, standard dose group, n = 33). The National Institutes of Health Neurological Stroke Scale score before and 24 and 48 hours after treatment, modified Rankin scale score before and 7, 14 and 90 days after treatment, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels before and 24 hours after treatment, 24-hour incidence of intracranial hemorrhage, 24-hour incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, and 90-day mortality were compared between the two groups. Results:Compared with before treatment, the National Institutes of Health Neurological Stroke Scale scores in each group were significantly decreased at 24 and 48 hours after treatment (low dose group, t24 h = 6.78, t48 h = 7.86; standard dose group: t24 h = 8.09, t48 h = 10.13, all P < 0.001). Compared with before treatment, the modified Rankin scale score in each group was significantly decreased at 7, 14 and 90 days after treatment (low-dose group: t7 d = 5.19, t14 d = 8.47, t90 d = 9.85; standard dose group: t7 d = 6.83, t14 d = 7.74, t90 d = 13.66, all P < 0.001). At 24 hours after treatment, serum levels of CRP, NSE, TNF-α in each group were significantly decreased (low-dose group: tCRP = 5.13 , tNSE = 4.22, tTNF-α = 34.29; standard dose group: tCRP = 4.87, tNSE = 5.53, tTNF-α = 31.98, all P < 0.001). At each time point after treatment, there were no significant differences in these indices between the two groups (all P > 0.05). The 24-hour incidence of intracranial hemorrhage in the low dose group was significantly lower than that in the standard dose group ( χ2 = 4.58, P = 0.032). There were no significant differences in incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and 90-day mortality between the two groups (all P > 0.05). Conclusion:Intravenous thrombolysis with low dose alteplase (0.6 mg/kg) for the treatment of acute cerebral infarction in older adult patients exhibits equivalent clinical efficacy to that with standard dose alteplase (0.9 mg/kg), and the former is much safer than the latter.