also known as “apoplexy” , is an acute cerebrovascular disease caused by a sudden rupture of a blood vessel in the brain or a blockage of a blood vessel that prevents blood from flowing to the brain, resulting in brain tissue damage. Ischemic strokes are classified as ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes depending on whether the blood vessels in the brain are occluded or hemorrhaged, with ischemic strokes accounting for about 70~80% of the population.。
Epidemiological data shows that stroke has the following characteristics.
High mortality: About 1.94 million people died of a stroke in China in 2018, accounting for more than 20% of the total deaths, i.e., at least one out of every five deaths.
High morbidity risk: There are 13 million stroke patients in China now, and the overall lifetime risk of stroke is 39.9%, which means that about two out of every five people will suffer a stroke.
Heavy economic burden:In 2017 , the per capita hospitalization cost of ischemic stroke patients in China was nearly 10,000 yuan (9,607yuan). The annual social and economic burden is as high as 40 billion yuan.High disability rate: Stroke is the first cause of disability among adults in China, with a disability rate of 75%.
Risk factors for stroke are similar to those for myocardial infarction and also include hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, alcohol drinking, and smoking. If a patient develops facial paralysis, limb weakness, or slurred speech, the onset of stroke should be highly suspected, and 120 should be called immediately.
For patients with acute ischemic stroke, intravenous thrombolysis should be preferred if the onset is < 4.5h. If it is more than 4.5h, treatment can also be performed by intravenous thrombolysis + thrombectomy. The choice of thrombolytic agent is crucial for the treatment and prognosis of stroke. TNK can effectively open the infarcted vessel with a low risk of hemorrhage and can minimize the time delay for patients requiring bridging therapy because of the short injection time .Several studies have been conducted in China and abroad to further explore the efficacy and safety of TNK for stroke. It is believed that in the near future, TNK will replace rt-PA as the priority drug for stroke thrombolysis.