Propagating Relationship of Cerebral Oximetric Volume and the Clinical Outcome of Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator (r-TPA) Therapy on Acute Cerebral Ischemic Stroke Patients

Currently, the most available treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-TPA). A challenge in r-TPA therapy is the prediction of recovery in each case.

The aim was to find a possible relationship between the cerebral oximetry indexes and the clinical outcome of r-TPA therapy to assess the cerebral oximetry as a non-invasive monitoring agent for therapy.

The inclusion criteria were all patients with AIS who received r-TPA. The neurologic status was evaluated based on the national institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS) score at arrival, and after a period of 24 hours. In addition, the levels of brain oxygenation in both hemispheres were measured before and continuously over the first 24 hours after r-TPA injection, using an oximetric sensor in the frontal lobes. The clinical success was defined as a 4-point improvement from the baseline NIHSS.

Total 44 patients with the mean age of 58.2 ± 2.18 years were enrolled, of whom 68.18% were male. Twenty-eight patients remained clinically unimproved and 16 patients were improved. A significant difference was found in the mean surface area under the brain oximetric curve in the 24 hour, in the affected hemisphere in the improved group, compared to the unimproved group (P = 0.007). There was a significant difference between the mean increase in brain oxygenation within 24 hours in the improved and unimproved groups (P = 0.002).

It is likely that, The cerebral oximetry could contribute to predict the likelihood of r-TPA prognosis in patients with AIS.