Ischemic stroke patients with active cancer are known to have poor clinical outcomes. However, the efficacy and safety of intravenous alteplase (IV t-PA) in this group are still unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether stroke patients with cancer had poor clinical outcomes after use of IV t-PA. We reviewed ischemic stroke patients with active cancer treated with isolated IV t-PA between April 2010 and March 2015 at three national university hospitals from the registry for ischemic stroke in Korea. The clinical outcomes of early neurological deterioration (END), hemorrhagic transformation, in-hospital mortality, 3-month modified Rankin scale (mRS), the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) discharge score, and duration of hospitalization were compared. We enrolled a total of 12 patients, and the cohort showed poor outcomes including 4 (33%) END events, 7 (58%) hemorrhagic transformations, 3 (25%) in-hospital mortality cases, and 7 (58%) poor mRS (3–6) scores. Additionally, the cryptogenic stroke group ( = 6) more frequently had high mRS scores (P = 0.043) as well as tendencies for frequent END events, hemorrhagic transformations, in-hospital mortality cases, and higher discharge NIHSS scores without statistical significance. In conclusion, ischemic stroke patients with active cancer, especially those with a cryptogenic mechanism, showed poor clinical outcomes after use of IV t-PA.
http://ift.tt/2sD66sK