Does smoking influence outcome after intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke?

It remains uncertain whether current smoking influences outcome in patients with acute ischaemic stroke.

To evaluate the effect of current smoking in routinely tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)-treated stroke patients on the 3-month functional outcome and the occurrence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

We analyzed data from a single stroke care unit registry of 345 consecutive patients with ischaemic stroke, treated with tPA. Logistic regression models were used to assess if smoking was independently associated with 3-months good outcome defined as a modified Rankin Scale score of < or =2, and the occurrence of symptomatic ICH.

In the multivariable models, smoking was not associated with a good outcome or a decreased risk of symptomatic ICH.

Current smoking did not affect functional outcome at 3 months or the risk of symptomatic ICH in patients routinely treated with tPA for ischaemic stroke.