(Stroke. 2004;35:1323.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.
Original Contributions |
From the Cerebrovascular Unit (P.T., L.D., F.P., N.N., J.H.), Hôpital Neurologique, Lyon, France; the Biostatistical Unit (P.A.), Hospices Civils de Lyon, France; and the Hemostasis Laboratory (M.H., P.F., M.D.), Hôpital Cardiologique, Lyon, France.
Correspondence to Prof Paul Trouillas, Cerebrovascular Unit, Hôpital Neurologique, 59 Boulevard Pinel, 69003 Lyon, France. E-mail paul.trouillas{at}chu-lyon.fr
| Abstract |
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Methods Consecutive patients were included in the Lyon rt-PA protocol. Early hematomas (within 24 hours), diagnosed on an anatomoradiological basis (symptomatic and not symptomatic) were considered for the study. Fibrinogen and fibrin(ogen) degradation products (FDP) were assessed at entry and at 2 and 24 hours after the beginning of thrombolysis.
Results Of 157 patients, 11 had early parenchymal hematomas (7%), 31 had early hemorrhagic infarcts (19.7%), and 115 had no bleeding (73.2%). In logistic regression, FDP at 2 hours was the single predictor of parenchymal hematomas (OR: 2.5; CI: 1.09 to 5.8), whereas an increase of FDP >200 mg/L multiplied the odds of parenchymal hematoma by 4.95 (IC: 1.09 to 22.4). Early parenchymal hematomas were indicative of a poor prognosis at 3 months (P=0.001).
Conclusions Early parenchymal hematomas appear as both "malignant" and exclusively related to an explosive increase of FDP at 2 hours, ie, an early fibrinogen degradation coagulopathy (EFDC). All patients scheduled to rt-PA thrombolysis should have an assay of FDP 2 hours after the beginning of thrombolysis: patients with an established EFDC (FDP >200 mg/L) should be monitored specifically, with no antithrombotic drug during the first 72 hours. Patients with FDP >100 mg should share the same monitoring.
Key Words: hematoma hemorrhage fibrinogen fibrinogen degradation products thrombolysis
| Introduction |
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In 2000, after a prospective study of coagulation parameters in the Lyon intravenous rt-PA trial,15,16 we described a biological syndrome predictive of cerebral bleeding related to an early coagulopathy and characterized by an increase of fibrin(ogen) degradation products (FDP) 2 hours after the beginning of thrombolysis.17 In the present study of 157 patients, we show that this early coagulopathy is exclusively predictive of early parenchymal hematomas (<24 hours) and is the major and single factor of their occurrence.
| Patients and Methods |
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Hemorrhagic Events
An anatomic definition of the hemorrhagic lesion was used, regardless of deterioration. CT scans were systematically performed at entry and at 24±6 hours. Parenchymal hematomas (PH) were defined according the anatomic definition of ECASS (PH1 and PH2)18 as hemorrhagic infarcts (HI; HI1 and HI2). Only early bleeding lesions, which occurred <24 hours after thrombolysis, were studied to better explore the relationship of the lesions with thrombolysis and the early biological events induced by thrombolysis. Only hematomas were considered in this report.
Hemostasis
Coagulation tests were obtained before treatment, and at 2 and 24 hours after the initiation of thrombolysis in all patients. Fibrinogen levels were determined by the Clauss method on fresh plasma obtained from blood collected into 5-mL vacuum tubes containing 0.5 mL sodium citrate 0.129 mol/L (Vacutainer; Becton Dickinson). For FDP, 2 mL aliquots of blood were collected into vacuum tubes containing thrombin and soybean trypsin inhibitor (Becton Dickinson). When necessary, protamine sulfate (50 µL) was added to neutralize heparin. The blood was allowed to clot for 30 minutes at 37°C and the serum harvested by centrifugation. FDP were then measured in the serum by latex agglutination (SpliPrest; Diagnostica Stago). Baseline platelet count and international normalized ratio (INR) were also studied.
Statistical Analysis
Three subgroups were studied: (1) early (<24 hours) PHs; (2) early (<24 hours) HIs; and (3) patients with no bleeding lesions. Each hemorrhagic subgroup was compared, using univariate analysis, to the nonbleeding subgroup (group 3) for the 53 variables. A logarithmic transformation was also used for FDP and fibrinogen values. The MannWhitney test and the Wilcoxon Rank sum test were used for quantitative data and the exact Fisher test was used for qualitative data. A logistic regression analysis was performed, with models for the different values of FDP and fibrinogen.
Multivariate analysis included logistic regression analysis by stepwise backward elimination method to select minimum sets of variables, which allowed a distinction between hematomas and the nonbleeding subgroup. Based on this regression model, the variables were selected and then used to analyze and describe the additional risk of early PH. SPSS Windows 95 (version 7.5) was used for calculations.
| Results |
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Comparison of Early PHs With Nonbleeding Patients
In univariate analysis, no baseline clinical, causative, or radiological factor could be characterized as significant; glycemia, platelet count, or history of antiplatelet or anticoagulant treatments were not factors. The only significant factor was an increase of FDP at 2 hours after thrombolysis (median: 60 mg/L; 95% CI: 10 to 500 versus 20 mg/L; 95% CI: 10 to 30; P<0.04) (Table 3). Logistic regression demonstrated that FDP at 2 hours was a powerful independent predictor of early PHs (OR: 2.5; CI: 1.09 to 5.8; P=0.03), whereas an increase in FDP >200 mg/L multiplied the odds of PH by 4.95 (IC: 1.09 to 22.4; P=0.03). For values >100 mg/L, there was a statistical trend, with an OR of 3.04, that did not reach significance, given the size of the series. When the cutoff point was set at an FDP of 100 mg/L, the sensitivity was 36.4%, the specificity was 84.2%, the positive predictive value was 18.2%, and the negative predictive value was 93.2%. When the cutoff point was set at an FDP of 200 mg/L, the sensitivity was 27.3%, the specificity was 93%, the positive predictive value was 27.3%, and the negative predictive value was 93%.
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Models of logistic regression with platelet count and glycemia confirmed that FDP at 2 hours was the single independent factor.
Descriptive Analysis of FDP and Fibrinogen Values in Patients With PH, HI, and No Bleeding
Figure 3 represents the box plots of the logarithmic values of FDP at 2 hours in the 3 subgroups, showing that the distribution of FDP values at 2 hours is very different in early hematomas, whereas early HIs and nonbleeding patients have similar patterns.
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Prognosis at 3 Months
The occurrence of early PH was significantly related to a poor outcome at 3 months (mean modified Rankin score: 4.7 versus 2.6; P<0.0001) and to a poor outcome as soon as day 1 (P=0.005).
| Discussion |
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Such a coagulopathy, with early increase of FDP (at 5 hours), has been described in intravenous rt-PA thrombolysis of myocardial infarction (MI) and has been shown to be predictive of general bleeding in the TIMI Trial Phase I: values >100 mg/L were associated with a likelihood ratio for general bleeding of 2.25,19 whereas >400 mg/L multiplied the risk of intracranial hemorrhage by 319 and 4.1.20 In the first 3 trials of the European Cooperative Study Group for rt-PA,21 patients with an FDP value >85 mg/L at 90 minutes after the start of thrombolysis also had twice the risk of a general bleeding complication risk. Moreover, a specific cerebral bleeding hazard, in relation to increased FDP value determined at the time of the complication, was demonstrated in MI thrombolysis with duteplase.22 It has been shown that ICH in MI thrombolysis is basically an early complication, with a mean occurrence time within 24 hours.23,24
Thus, in cardiac thrombolysis, as in cerebral rt-PA thrombolysis, the levels of 85 to 100 mg/L appear to be the actual limit of risk for general or cerebral early bleeding.
We have found a relationship between the FDP increase and fibrinogen decrease, a possible indication that the degradation products assayed in our trial are primarily FDPs, as in MI rt-PA thrombolysis.25
Thus, the coagulopathy described here might involve, basically, an excessive fibrinogenolysis appearing early after thrombolysis, with release of fragments X and Y26 acting as antithrombins.26,27 In addition, FDPs inhibit fibrin polymerization, resulting in defective fibrin structure, and also impair platelet function.27 However, it remains to be explained why there is no significant concomitant decrease of plasma fibrinogen in this study as in the MI ones.1921 Complex hemostasis interactions might occur, because rt-PA in acute ischemic stroke also provokes an early elevation of fibrin monomer and d-dimer.28 Other factors that might explain this excessive fibrinogenolysis could involve specific qualitative features of fibrinogen responsible for its explosive cleavage.
The early fibrinogen degradation coagulopathy might also be specific of the type of thrombolytic molecule: in the TIMI Trial Phase I, FDP were found significantly higher in patients treated with streptokinase than in those treated by rtPA,19 a fact that might contribute to the particularly high frequency of the PH rate in cerebral thrombolysis with streptokinase.1 Thus, early FDP values might then be an important parameter in security procedures of phase I and II studies of new thrombolytic molecules by which to identify a high risk for PHs. An early assay of FDP should also be obtained in animals when new thrombolytic molecules are tested.
However, only 40% of acute infarct patients with hematomas have FDP >100 mg/L, which indicates that other factors might play a role. We found no other factor, but methods like pretherapeutic stroke MRI might provide interesting data on the hemodynamic status of the ischemic zones that will provoke the hematoma. Another hypothesis is that despite FDP levels <100 mg/L, a qualitative coagulopathy does take place with high levels of fragments X and Y. This hypothesis should be studied.
Conversely, in patients with FDP >100 mg/L with no bleeding at all or only HI, factors that provide resistance to malignant bleeding may be hypothesized. Another hypothesis might be a special hemodynamic status or the lack of significant "qualitative coagulopathy" in these cases, with low levels of fragments X and Y.
Clinical Importance of Early High FDP for Prevention of Early Hematomas
Early PHs represent an immediate deterioration factor (54.5% were symptomatic) and a significant factor for a poor outcome at 3 months. This characteristic of "malignant" bleeding has been documented.18 The predictive value of the FDP increase represents a direct tool by which to detect the patients at risk for hematoma and organize its prevention. Given the data in MI thrombolysis and the statistical trends concerning the value of 100 mg/L, FDP at 2 hours >100 mg should be the relevant limit of the prehematoma early fibrinogen degradation coagulopathy.
Thus, in all stroke centers performing thrombolysis, intraarterially or intravenously, an FDP assay 2 hours after the beginning of thrombolysis should be standard practice to detect the patients with FDP >100 mg at risk for hematoma and who should be monitored with a specific attention and surveyed every hour.
Given the role of heparin (reflected by activated partial thromboplastin time values) in the occurrence of hematomas in MI thrombolysis29 and the particular frequency of hematomas in the PROACT II cerebral thrombolysis study,2 in which intravenous heparin was added to intraarterial prourokinase, it seems reasonable to avoid heparin in this type of patient, not only during the first 24 hours but also during the 48 subsequent hours. Other antithrombotic drugs, such as aspirin, lowmolecular-weight heparin, or others, should also be avoided.
Immobilization and a particularly stringent surveillance of hypertension and glycemia should also be followed. Moreover, in cases with FDP >200 mg, the use antifibrinolytic agents such as tranexamic acid or other protease inhibitors could be considered. Further studies are necessary to test the safety of this possibility.
| Conclusion |
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| Acknowledgments |
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Received June 30, 2003; revision received January 15, 2004; accepted February 3, 2004.
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