Truths about the NINDS study: setting the record straight

Truths about the NINDS study: setting the record straight Thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke has been studied for more than a decade, but its efficacy remains controversial. The first study to claim that tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is effective in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke was a multicenter clinical trial coordinated by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Study Group. The NINDS study's conclusions, published in 1995, 1 were that "treatment with intravenous tPA within 3 hours of the onset of ischemic stroke improved clinical outcome at 3 months . . . [A]s compared with patients given placebo, patients treated with tPA were at least 30% more likely to have minimal or no disability at 3 months." 1( p1586) The NINDS study was widely perceived to be a well-executed and analyzed randomized controlled trial, and its results were well received by many medical professionals and the public.