Microbleed Status and 3-Month Outcome After Intravenous Thrombolysis in 717 Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Background And Purpose: Whether cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) detected on pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging increase the risks of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and, most importantly, poor outcome in patients treated by intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke is still debated. We assessed the effect of CMB presence and burden on 3-month modified Rankin Scale and sICH in a multicentric cohort.

Methods: We analyzed prospectively collected data of consecutive patients solely treated by intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke, in 2 centers where magnetic resonance imaging is the first-line pretreatment imaging.