Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy for Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients Taking NOACs

Intravenous thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (alteplase) is the cornerstone of acute ischemic stroke reperfusion therapy and is associated with significant improvements in outcomes. Historically, a number of exclusion criteria for use of alteplase had been in place, but over the past 20 years, some of these have been eliminated (eg, age>80 years, seizures at stroke onset) or have become less stringent (eg, exclusion criteria may not strictly apply to recent vitamin K antagonist treatment if the patient has an international normalized ratio<1.7, and treatment may be administered in an extended time window in some patients).
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research