Thrombolysis Safe in Stroke Patients on Oral Anticoagulants
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Is thrombolysis Safe in Stroke Patients on Oral Anticoagulants ? Can someone share some information?
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@aalok Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) for acute stroke appears safe for patients who have recently received direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) therapy, a new observational study suggests, prompting researchers to ask whether guidelines that restrict its use should be updated. Researchers found that DOAC users were significantly less likely to develop symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) after IVT, and there was no difference in functional independence at 3 months compared to patients who received IVT but who did not receive DOAC. As many as 20% of patients with AF experience ischemic stroke while receiving DOAC therapy. Reperfusion therapy with intravenous alteplase is considered standard of care for acute ischemic stroke, but current guidelines recommend against the use of IVT for patients who have recently received a DOAC, owing to safety concerns that researchers say are not backed by strong clinical evidence.
As reported by Medscape Medical News, a recent study found no significant difference in sICH among patients who received IV alteplase for acute ischemic stroke within 7 days of receiving therapy with non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants.
"In our daily clinical practice, we face a lot of patients who have received oral anticoagulation, many with atrial fibrillation, but a lot of other indicators as well, and they suffer from ischemic stroke," Purrucker said. "They usually are ineligible for medical reperfusion therapy because of quite strict guideline recommendations at the moment. This is a daily clinical problem."
Purrucker and colleagues in New Zealand and Switzerland launched an international observational, multicenter cohort study to examine the issue.
Researchers collected data on patients with ischemic stroke who had last received DOAC therapy 48 hours or less before the event or whose last intake was unknown and who had received IVT. They included 20,448 patients, 830 of whom were receiving DOAC therapy at the time of stroke onset.
Among the DOAC users, 30% received DOAC reversal prior to IVT, 27% had their DOAC level measured, and 42% received IVT without reversal treatment or knowledge of DOAC levels.
Overall, 4.5% of patients developed sICH. Compared to the control group, DOAC users were half as likely to develop sICH (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.47; P = .003).
There was no significant difference between groups in independent outcome at 3 months, defined as a Modified Rankin Scale score of 1 to 3 (aOR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.99 – 1.49).