Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
-
A retrospective analysis was performed on 20 consecutive patients who presented with severe acute ischemic stroke and were evaluated for a combined intravenous (IV) and local intra-arterial (IA) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) thrombolytic approach within 3 hours of onset. ⋯ We believe that the greater-than-expected proportion of favorable outcomes in these patients with severe ischemic stroke reflects the short time to initiation of both IV and IA thrombolysis.