Reperfusion-Related Intracerebral Hemorrhage

The efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) for acute ischemic stroke patients has been well established worldwide, with endovascular therapy performed in patients who have failed or are ineligible for IVT and who have major vessel occlusion. The most feared complication of acute stroke reperfusion therapy is intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), as these patients have a poor clinical outcome and high mortality. The fundamental mechanisms responsible for reperfusion-related ICH include increased permeability and disruption of the blood-brain barrier. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator may exacerbate the blood-brain barrier disruption through its pharmacological action during IVT. Furthermore, interactions between the device and the vessel walls and contrast intoxication may also be related to ICH, which includes the occurrence of subarachnoid hemorrhage after endovascular therapy. Numerous factors have been reported to be associated with or to be able to predict ICH, and several scoring systems have been developed for predicting symptomatic ICH (sICH) after IVT. However, a scoring system with enough power to detect an unacceptably high risk of sICH or to provide information on when to withdraw IVT has yet to be definitively established. In current clinical practice, acute stroke patients without contraindications for IVT who have been identified by conventional computed tomography scans normally undergo IVT, irrespective of any clinical predictors of ICH after IVT. Strategies that have been suggested for preventing reperfusion-related ICH in high-risk patients include intensive blood pressure control, tight glycemic control, and the avoidance of early aggressive antithrombotic therapy. If sICH, and especially massive parenchymal hematoma, does occur, hematoma expansion needs to be prevented through the use of tight blood pressure control and other methods. Although evidence of efficacy has yet to be established, surgical removal is performed not only for the purpose of saving lives but also for improving the functional outcome. In order to develop therapeutic strategies for reperfusion-related ICH that will lead to an improved stroke prognosis, further studies are warranted.