Stroke in ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in early pregnancy treated with intra-arterial rt-PA

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) caused by fertility medications can predispose women to thrombosis. The authors present a case of a previously healthy woman who underwent in vitro fertilization and experienced a middle cerebral artery thrombosis that was subsequently lysed with intra-arterial recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA). To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of successful use of rt-PA to lyse a cerebral arterial thrombus resulting from severe OHSS. The patient made a near complete neurologic recovery and delivered a healthy infant at term, illustrating that intra-arterial thrombolysis can be used with relative safety even in very early pregnancy.