Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases
Original ArticleFeasibility and Safety of Intravenous Thrombolysis in Multiethnic Asian Stroke Patients in Singapore
Section snippets
Subjects and Methods
In our hospital, patients with acute IS were first attended by the emergency room physicians and nursing staff. If the patient was a potential candidate for thrombolysis, our comprehensive acute stroke team consisting of the stroke neurologist and radiologist, as well as the laboratory staff, was activated for a fast-track evaluation. By the time that the noncontrast computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain was completed, routine laboratory tests (ie, complete blood count, prothrombin time,
Results
Our stroke unit managed a total of 4774 patients with acute IS between January 2000 and June 2008. The rate of thrombolysis during the study period is shown in Figure 1. A total of 130 patients (2.7%) received IV-tPA. Table 1 gives demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors, stroke subtype, and baseline clinical parameters are given in Table 1. Our study sample had a mean age of 60 years, and 60% were men. The ethnic distribution was fairly representative of that in the general
Discussion
Our findings show that thrombolytic therapy with IV-tPA is feasible as well as safe for the treatment of acute IS in our multiethnic Asian patients in Singapore. Studies of IV-tPA therapy in Asian patients are scarce and include smaller numbers of subjects of single ethnic origins.5, 6, 7, 16 To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on IV-tPA treatment in a cohort of acute IS patients of diverse Asian ethnicity.
Our experience illustrates the “learning curve” in the development of
Acknowledgments
We thank all of the nurses, paramedical staff, emergency physicians, neurologists in our department, as well as the residents involved in the management of acute stroke patients. Our thrombolysis program would not have been possible without their dedication and valuable contributions.
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