When ischemic stroke patients do not receive intravelous alteplase to help dissolve clots, their odds of survival are significantly reduced, according to a study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Researchers examined 2008 to 2013 data in the Georgia Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry and linked the data to hospital discharge during those years as well as the death rate from 2008 through 2014 in the state. They analyzed data from 9,620 acute ischemic stroke patients.
The study shows that one year after discharge, acute ischemic stroke patients who did not receive IV alteplase treatment were 49 percent more likely to die. Additionally, only a quarter of the eligible patients received IV alteplase.
"Clinicians may be hesitant to administer IV alteplase because of concerns about the drug's complications, which can include bleeding," said Moges Ido, MD, the study's lead author and a part-time instructor at Georgia State University's School of Public Health in Atlanta. "But this study indicates that unless major contraindications are present, patients should be offered this treatment as a life-saving measure."