Association Between the Change of Coagulation Parameters and Clinical Prognosis in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients After Intravenous Thrombolysis With rt-PA

Acute ischemic stroke patients with intravenous (IV) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) thrombolysis have different outcomes. The degree of thrombolysis depends largely on the delicate balance of coagulation and fibrinolysis. Thus, our study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of routine coagulation parameters in acute stroke patients treated with rt-PA. From December 2016 to October 2018, consecutive patients treated with standard-dose IV rt-PA within 4.5 h of stroke onset were collected in Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Routine coagulation parameters, including platelet count, mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and fibrinogen, were measured at baseline (h0) and 24 h (h24) after thrombolysis. The change of coagulation parameters was defined as the (h24-h0)/h0 ratio. The prognosis included short-term outcome at 24 h and functional outcome at 3 months. A total of 267 patients were investigated (188 men and 79 women) with a mean age of 60.88 ± 12.31 years. In total, 9 patients had early neurological deterioration within 24 h, and 99 patients had an unfavorable outcome at the 3-month visit. In multivariate logistic regression, the (h24-h0)/h0 of PT was associated with unfavorable functional outcomes at 3 months (odds ratio: 1.42, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.28). While the change of other coagulation parameters failed to show any correlation with short-term or long-term prognosis. In conclusion, the prolongation of PT from baseline to 24 h after IV rt-PA increases the risk of 3-month unfavorable outcomes in acute stroke patients.