Sex Differences in IV tPA Use and Stroke Outcomes

Women often have worse stroke outcomes than men do. Women and men are known to have different stroke risk factors and to be evaluated and treated differently for stroke. Treatment differences include different rates of use of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA). In the Glycine Antagonist in Neuroprotection (GAIN) trial, among tPA recipients, women had lower mortality but worse functional outcomes than did men. Now, in two Canadian studies, investigators have looked at sex differences in patients with stroke.

Kent and colleagues enrolled all patients in Canada who received IV tPA during an approximately 2-year period. Among the 1102 patients, women were more likely than were men to be older and to have hypertension or atrial fib…