Thrombolysis in Stroke Mimics

Abstract

Only few patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis did eventually have a final diagnosis other than stroke, ie, mostly seizures. Their outcome was favorable. Although clinical features differed between the stroke and the mimic groups, the differences were not distinctive enough to allow assigning individual patients to either of the groups. Multimodal neuroimaging or electroencephalographic recordings may be helpful for this assignment. However, their potential benefit has to be weighed against the potential harm of delayed thrombolysis.