Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator administered after 3 h following onset of ischaemic stroke: a metaanalysis.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator administered after 3 h following onset of ischaemic stroke.

Background: Some recent data indicate that treatment with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator may be beneficial even when administered to ischaemic stroke patients beyond 3 h from symptom onset.

Methods: We searched the medical literature using the MEDLINE, BIOSIS, and Cochrane databases for pertinent publications from 1966 to 2008 using the keywords 'alteplase', 'tissue plasminogen activator', and 'stroke'.