Optimizing tPA Therapy for Stroke Victims

Abstract

Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) remains one of the most effective thrombolytic agents given to patients that present with acute ischemic strokes. However, increased chances of brain hemorrhaging are observed if administered outside of the accepted time window of 4.5 hours. Patients who already have prior trauma comorbidities are at the highest risk and are therefore not eligible for reperfusion therapy using tPA. In this manuscript, the author aims to assess the feasibility of counteracting tPA mediated blood brain barrier (BBB) degradation and proposes novel diagnostic techniques to quantify the efficacy of potential adjuvant therapies reported in the literature.