Within-Day and Weekly Variations of Thrombolysis in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—Temporal variations of thrombolysis delivery and their influence on outcome have been reported with controversial results. In this large cohort study, we evaluated whether thrombolytic treatment has a within-day and weekly variability corresponding to circadian and weekly patterns of ischemic stroke onset, and whether these have impact on clinical outcome.

Methods—We retrospectively analyzed patients with acute ischemic stroke receiving intravenous alteplase, prospectively included in the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke-International Stroke Thrombolysis Register. Patients were grouped by treatment on day hours (08:00–19:59) or night hours (20:00–07:59) and treatment on weekdays and weekends. For each subgroup, we analyzed frequency of thrombolytic treatments, time intervals, and outcomes (3-month modified Rankin Scale score 0–2 as good functional outcome, mortality, symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage). Read More