Studies have shown that Imatinib restores the blood-brain barrier integrity and reduces infarct size, hemorrhagic transformation and cerebral edema in stroke models treated with tissue plasminogen activator. This article reports the observations made in the study which evaluated the safety and tolerability of imatinib and its potential influence on the neurological and functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). Disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a critical pathological complication following acute ischemic stroke.
A leaky BBB likely exposes the ischemic tissue to leucocytes and may cause further tissue injury. Despite the intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and mechanical thrombectomy, 40% of patients experience functional dependence or dead at follow-up. Whereas only minority of patients can be treated with reperfusion therapy…
