Frequency and predictors of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke in a Brazilian public hospital.

Objective: Scarce data are available on the occurrence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage related to intravenous thrombolysis for acute stroke in South America. We aimed to address the frequency and clinical predictors of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after stroke thrombolysis at our tertiary emergency unit in Brazil.

Method: We reviewed the clinical and radiological data of 117 consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis in our hospital between May 2001 and April 2010.