Clinical Outcomes of Thrombolytic Therapy in Patients with Mild Stroke:
Single-Center Experience in a Tertiary Care Institution
Abstract
Objective: The term ‘mild stroke’ is used to describe stroke patients
with a NIHSS score of 0 to 6. There is still no clear decision regarding
the application of iv recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (iv-tPA)
to patients who is admitted with an acute ischemic stroke and is in the
mild stroke category. In our study, we aimed to analyze the data of
patients who applied to our stroke center with an acute mild stroke
clinic and received iv-tPA treatment and their three-month follow-up.
Methods: A total of 47 (age 69.1 ± 14.1, 28 female) mild stroke patients
were included out of 350 patients receiving thrombolytic therapy.
Intravenous thrombolysis was initiated with a maximum delay of 4.5 hours
in all patients. Patients had a NIHS score less than 6. NIHSS scores
immediately before starting thrombolytic therapy and scores 24 hours
after treatment were recorded. Modified Rankin Scale scores (mRS) at
admission, 1 and 3 months were recorded. Results: NIHSS scores of the
patients who received tPA decreased significantly after the treatment (p
= 0.001). The patients’ 1st and 3rd month mRS scores were statistically
significantly decreased according to the mRS scores when they entered
the treatment (p = 0.001). Conclusions: This study highlights the
efficacy of iv-tPA in acute ischemic stroke patients with mild symptoms
and demonstrates the low risk profile of this therapy.