Low-Dose Versus Standard-Dose Tissue Plasminogen Activator in Acute Ischemic Stroke in Asian Populations

Recent studies have investigated the most efficacious dose of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. There remains no definitive consensus concerning the superior efficacious IV-tPA dose (standard- vs. low-dose), prompting us to perform a meta-analysis comparing the efficacy and safety profile of standard- versus low-dose IV-tPA. We identified relevant studies pertaining to the specific aim of our meta-analysis by searching PubMed and EMBASE (January 1990–September 2015) Either a fixed- or random-effects model was employed (dependent upon data heterogeneity) to analyze the efficacy and safety outcome. Ten cohort studies involving 4389 sum patients were included in the meta-analysis. By using the random-effects model, the meta-analysis indicated no statistically significant difference in favorable functional outcome (modified Rankin scale 0–1) at 3 months (heterogeneity: χ2 = 17.45, P = 0.04, I2 = 48%; OR: 0.88 [95% CI: 0.71–1.11]; P = 0.28) and incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (SICH) (heterogeneity: χ2 = 14.41, P = 0.11, I2 = 38%; OR: 1.19 [95% CI: 0.76 to 1.87]; P = 0.45) between the standard- and low-dose groups. The fixed-effects model demonstrated no significant difference in mortality within 3 months (heterogeneity: χ2 = 6.73, P = 0.57, I2 = 0%; OR: 0.91 [95% CI: 0.73–1.12]; P = 0.37) between the standard- and low-dose groups. Low-dose IV-tPA is comparable to standard-dose IV-tPA in both efficacy (favorable functional outcome) and safety (SICH and mortality). Confirmation of these findings through randomized trials is warranted.