Thrombolysis in cerebral ischemia. A review of clinical and experimental data

Thrombolytic therapy has been proposed in the treatment of cerebrovascular occlusive disease. Early clinical experiences with Urokinase and Streptokinase raised concern about the risk of hemorrhagic complications. More recently, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has been evaluated experimentally with promising results. Its clinical utilization has been recently initiated. A review of experimental and clinical data on thrombolysis in cerebral ischemia is presented. TPA treatment produced recanalization and clinical improvement in several patients. The rate of intracranial hemorrhagic complications is similar to the incidence of spontaneous hemorrhagic conversion of ischemic infarction. Nevertheless, large placebo-controlled clinical trials are necessary to further define the efficacy and the optimal modality of administration of tPA in thromboembolic stroke.