Thrombolysis for stroke patients prescribed novel oral anticoagulants

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    When to thrombolyse patients prescribed concurrent novel oral anticoagulants in acute stroke - a feasibility study

  • IRAS ID

    160131

  • Contact name

    Jignesh. P Patel

  • Contact email

    jig.patel@kcl.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    King's College London

  • Research summary

    Current guidelines suggest that if patients suffer an acute clot-related stroke, then ideally they should be given clot-busting treatment. However, some patients are taking blood-thinning medication (anticoagulants) at the time of their stroke; this creates a problem for these patients - as giving a clot-busting medication in addition to the anticoagulant medication increases the risks of bleeding.
    Over the last 10 years, a consensus has been reached, that patients taking warfarin (an anticoagulant medication) and who suffer an acute stroke can be given clot-busting medication, if their INR is <1.7 at the time of arriving at hospital. With the availability of new oral anticoagulants (apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban), the question of when clot-busting treatment is safe to give to this group of patients arises once again.
    This study aims to assess the anticoagulant activity of patients presenting to participating HASU centers in London with an acute stroke, prescribed all anticoagulants and describe how they are currently being managed, with the aim of testing whether a larger, England-wide study can be initiated.

  • REC name

    North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    14/NW/1157

  • Date of REC Opinion

    18 Jul 2014

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion