Alteplase is widely used for acute stroke at a dose of 0.6 mg/kg in Asian patients, whereas the standard in Europe and the USA is 0.9 mg/kg. The ENCHANTED study did not show that 0.6 mg/kg alteplase is noninferior to 0.9 mg/kg, as previously suggested, raising questions about standard practice in Asia.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Yamaguchi, T. et al. Alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg for acute ischemic stroke within 3 hours of onset: Japan Alteplase Clinical Trial (J-ACT). Stroke 37, 1810–1815 (2006).
Anderson, C. S. et al. Low-dose versus standard-dose intravenous alteplase in cute ischemic stroke. N. Engl. J. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1515510 (2016).
Yamaguchi, T., Hayakawa, T. & Kiuchi, H. Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator ameliorates the outcome of hyperacute embolic stroke. Cerebrovasc. Dis. 3, 269–272 (1993).
Yamaguchi, T., Kikuchi, H. & Hayakawa, T in Thrombolytic Therapy in Acute Ischemic Stroke III (eds Yamaguchi, T. et al.) 223–229 (Springer-Verlag Tokyo, 1995).
Ueshima, S. & Matsuo, O. The differences in thrombolytic effects of administrated recombinant t-PA between Japanese and Caucasians. Thromb. Haemost. 87, 544–546 (2002).
Chao, A. C. et al. Different doses of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator for acute stroke in Chinese patients. Stroke 45, 2359–2365 (2014).
Kim, B. J. et al. Low- versus standard-dose alteplase for ischemic strokes within 4.5 hours: a comparative effectiveness and safety study. Stroke 46, 2541–2548 (2015).
Liao, X. et al. Standard-dose intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator for stroke is better than low doses. Stroke 45, 2354–2358 (2014).
Rha, J. H. et al. Thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke with alteplase in an Asian population: results of the multicenter, multinational Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke–Non-European Union World (SITS–NEW). Int. J. Stroke 9 (Suppl. A100), 93–101 (2014).
Emberson, J. et al. Effect of treatment delay, age, and stroke severity on the effects of intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase for acute ischaemic stroke: a meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomised trials. Lancet 384, 1929–1935 (2014).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
J.A. has received lecture fees and speaker's fees from Daiichi Sankyo and Tanabe Mitsubishi. K.K. has received lecture fees and speaker's fees from Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Daiichi Sankyo, Otsuka, Pfizer and Tanabe Mitsubishi.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aoki, J., Kimura, K. The question of alteplase dose for stroke is not resolved. Nat Rev Neurol 12, 376–377 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.90
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.90