Thrombolysis in Acute Stroke Pooling Project: a meta-analysis on individual patient data

To assess the efficacy and safety of thrombolytic therapy in acute ischaemi c stroke, randomised clinical trials have been undertaken. Their results su ggest that further research should be attempted to identity patients for wh om the benefit/risk ratio of thrombolysis is beneficial. The Thrombolysis i n Acute Stroke Pooling Project (TAS-PP) group will pool individual patient data from recent studies and meta-analyse these. A Steering Committee draft ed the protocol and defined access rules to the common file. The objectives are to assess the efficacy of thrombolysis to reduce death or severe disab ility, to identify predictors of death and haemorrhagic transformation, and to identify subgroups with a better response to treatment, using logistic regression, survival curve comparison (log rank test), multivariate modelli ng (with treatment, baseline characteristics, delay from symptom to treatme nt as covariates). This project will help defining subpopulations that are more likely to benefit from this treatment, which cannot be achieved using tabulated data, and designing future trials.