Clinical application of intravenous thrombolysis with urokinase in treating cerebral infarction at the super-early stage

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis with urokinase in the treatment of cerebral infarction at the super-early stage. Methods Intravenous thrombolytic therapy was performed on 35 patients as a thrombolysis-treated group who are up to the admission standards, and meanwhile 29 patients as a control group with the similar conditions to the thrombolysis-treated group were managed without intravenous thrombolsis. Results The complete or nearly complete recovery rate in thrombolysis-treated group was 45.7 %, significantly higher than that in control group being 17.2 % (P=0.016). Thrombolysis-treated group had a markedly higher rate of complete or nearly complete recovery in patients with extensive cerebral infarction than the control group, 31.5 % vs 0 % (P=0.012). There was no significant difference in hemorrhage rate between the two groups. Conclusion Provided therapeutic time window, indications, contraindications and dosage were well controlled, intravenous thrombolytic therapy with urokinase was safe and effective in the treatment of cerebral infarction, particularly for patients with extensive cerebral infarction. Bedside monitoring with transcranial Doppler (TCD) in thrombolytic treatment helped to direct administration of urokinase and evaluate the therapeutic efficacy, and improve the recovery rate and the total effective rate of thrombolysis.