Thrombolysis With Fibrinolysin in Cerebral Arterial Occlusion

Three patients with hemiplegia were treated by the slow intravenous infusion of fibrinolysin. The site of occlusion of the cerebral vessels was located in each case by arteriography. In one case the angiograms clearly showed nonfilling of the middle cerebral group of arteries before treatment, while on the eighth day after beginning treatment good filling of the middle cerebral vessels was obtained. This patient showed the most favorable results. The history of rheumatic heart disease and the fact that treatment was commenced within six hours after the onset of symptoms suggest that the lesion was caused by an embolus originating in the fibrillating left atrium and that the embolus was a fresh thrombus most susceptible to the lytic agent. No detrimental effects that could be ascribed either to the diagnostic angiography or to the administration of fibrinolysin were observed in these patients.