Outcomes of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischaemic stroke in HIV-infected adults

Background and purposeTo our knowledge there are no studies reporting the use and short-term outcomes of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV-TPA) for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) in people living with HIV. MethodsThe US Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) (2006-2010) was searched for HIV-infected AIS patients treated with IV-TPA. ResultsIn the NIS, 2.2% (62/2877) of HIV-infected AIS cases were thrombolyzed with IV-TPA (median age 52years, range 27-78, 32% female, 22% Caucasian) vs. 2.1% (19335/937896) of HIV-uninfected cases (median age 72years, range 17-102years, 50% female, 74% Caucasian; P=0.77). There were more deaths in HIV-infected versus uninfected patients with stroke (220/2877, 7.6% vs. 49089/937547, 5.2%, P<0.001) but no difference in the proportion of deaths amongst IV-TPA-treated patients. The age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio for death following IV-TPA administration in HIV-infected versus uninfected patients was 2.26 (95% CI 1.12, 4.58), but the interaction on mortality between HIV and IV-TPA use was not statistically significant, indicating no difference in risk of in-hospital death by HIV serostatus with IV-TPA use. A higher number of HIV-infected patients remained in hospital versus died or were discharged at both 10 and 30days (P<0.01 at 10 and 30days). No difference in the proportion of intracerebral hemorrhage in the two groups was found (P=0.362). ConclusionsThe in-hospital mortality is higher amongst HIV-infected AIS patients than HIV-uninfected patients. However, the risk of death amongst HIV-infected patients treated with IV-TPA is similar to HIV-uninfected groups.