Combined IV-intra-arterial thrombolysis: a color-coded duplex pilot study.

The authors compared the transcranial color-coded duplex pattern of the middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) before and after IV and combined IV-intra-arterial (IV-IA) thrombolysis in consecutive first-ever stroke patients. Patients receiving combined IV-IA thrombolysis showed greater improvement in flow signal and higher incidence of complete MCA recanalization vs those receiving IV thrombolysis, especially when the MCA was occluded or had only minimal flow.