Thrombolysis in ischemic strokes with no arterial occlusion

Rationale: Twelve million people develop ischemic stroke each year world over and 30-40% of them do not have arterial occlusions at presentation. Trials conducted to study the efficacy of thrombolytic drug reported better outcome with use of thrombolytic drug but none studied the subtypes of ischemic strokes specifically and adequately. The subgroups of patients with no arterial occlusion at presentation continue to receive thrombolytic therapy without proven benefit and with some risk. Aim: The aim of this article is to study whether intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase improves clinical outcome in ischemic stroke patients who do not have arterial occlusion at presentation. Design: A retrospective medical record-based observational multicenter, multinational study. Outcomes: Primary outcome measure would be clinical outcome at three-months from stroke onset measured by modified Rankin Scale and National Institute of Health Stroke Scale. Secondary outcome measure will be frequency of intracerebral hemorrhage causing worsening of clinical deficit defined as increase in National Institute of Health Stroke Scale by >4.