A single-centre experience of intravenous thrombolysis for stroke in COVID-19 patients.

The sudden worldwide outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has certainly provided new challenges in the management of acute ischaemic stroke, and the risk-benefit ratio of intravenous thrombolysis in COVID-19 positive patients is not well known. We describe four COVID-19 patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke. Although rt-PA administration is the main therapeutic strategy, our patients experienced unpredictable complications and showed atypical features: the overall mortality was very high. In conclusion, in this article, we provide information about these cases and discuss the possible explanation behind this trend.