Fibrinogen concentrate replacement in ischemic stroke patients after recombinant tissue plasminogen activator treatment

Background: Post-thrombotic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is experienced by 6-8% of stroke patients and is associated with multiple factors, including acquired coagulopathy induced by the thrombolytic drug.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the outcome of the intravenous (IV) administration of fibrinogen concentrate in a series of acute stroke patients who developed iatrogenic fibrinogen critical depletion after IV thrombolysis.

Material and methods: Of the 39 ischemic stroke patients treated with IV thrombolysis with a severe hypofibrinogenemia requiring infusion with IV fibrinogen concentrate, 30 patients were treated with 2 g of IV recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA), followed by further doses until the fibrinogen level reached 200 mg/dL in hemorrhagic patients or 100 mg/dL in non-hemorrhagic patients, and 9 were treated with IV rt-PA followed by endovascular thrombectomy.

Results: Preand post-thrombolysis National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores were statistically different for the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test overall (p = 0.0002), at 24-hour evaluation (p = 0.0455) and at 7-day assessment (p = 0.0006). Within the first 7 days post-thrombolysis, the brain computed tomography (CT) scans showed that 20/39 (51.28%) patients had ICH. Of the whole sample, 25.6% of the ICH patients had symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH), according to National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) classification. After rt-PA treatment, the median pre-thrombolysis fibrinogenemia of 332 mg/dL significantly dropped to 133 mg/dL (p < 0.0001). After the fibrinogen concentrate infusion, the median level of fibrinogenemia rose to 160 mg/dL, which was significantly higher than the median postthrombolysis levels (p < 0.0001). Recanalization was observed in 25/28 patients (89.29%): complete in 18 and partial in 7 patients. After fibrinogen IV infusion, no thrombotic complications were seen in 37 out of 39 patients (94.77%); 2/39 (0.05%) patients experienced a pulmonary embolism, 1 of them a segmental one.

Conclusions: This study showed the clinical safety of administering IV fibrinogen concentrate in order to increase plasma fibrinogen levels in a series of acute stroke patients with iatrogenic fibrinogen depletion after IV thrombolysis.