Researchers call for thrombolysis safety trial in children

Despite a “scarcity” of age-specific safety and efficacy data, children with acute arterial ischaemic stroke are still being given alteplase - often at time intervals that deviate from adult guidelines. Published in the Lancet Neurology, the international study found that intracranial haemorrhage was common and neurologic outcome poor in the 15 children (aged 0.2 to 15 years) treated with the tissue plasminogen activator between January 2003 and July 2007. The authors say these observations are a strong argument for a safety and dose-finding trial in children....