LAUSR

Background We aimed to investigate the association of post-thrombolytic D-dimer elevation with symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and functional outcome in AIS patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis. Methods We retrospectively reviewed our database for patients with AIS who received intravenous thrombolysis between August 2018 and December 2021. ΔD-dimer was calculated as follow-up D-dimer minus baseline D-dimer. Poor functional outcome was defined as 3 months modified Rankin score (mRS) 3–6. sICH was defined as cerebral hemorrhagic transformation in combination with clinical deterioration of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥4 points at 24 hours. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association of post-thrombolytic D-dimer parameters with sICH and poor functional outcome. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve derived optimal cut-off of different D-dimer parameters was determined at the maximal Youden’s Index. Results A total of 325 patients were finally included. After controlling for clinical variables, follow-up D-dimer level (OR 1.230; 95% CI 1.119 to 1.351; P < 0.001) and ΔD-dimer (OR 1.347; 95% CI 1.165 to 1.559; P < 0.001) were independently associated with poor functional outcome. Additionally, follow-up D-dimer level (OR 1.095; 95% CI 1.009 to 1.188; P = 0.030) was independently related to sICH. The optimal cut-off value of follow-up D-dimer level for predicting sICH was 4185 μg/L (area under the curve 0.760; sensitivity 76.0%; specificity 81.3%); and the optimal cut-off value of follow-up D-dimer level and ΔD-dimer as a predictor for poor functional outcome was projected to be 3838 μg/L and 2190 μg/L, which yielded a sensitivity and a specificity of 62.3%, 84.5% and 73.8%, 85.2%, respectively. Conclusion Elevated follow-up D-dimer levels are associated with sICH and poor functional outcome in AIS patients following intravenous rt-PA. Moreover, post-thrombolytic D-dimer elevation, measured by ΔD-dimer, was a better predictive biomarker for long-term outcome at 3 months.