Fibrinolytic agents in the treatment of intraventricular hemorrhage in adults

This paper aims to review current literature on the treatment of acute intraventricular hemorrhage in adults with intraventricular infusion of fibrinolytic agents. A literature search on the topics of "intraventricular hemorrhage" or "intracerebral hemorrhage" with "thrombolytic therapy", "fibrinolytic therapy", "urokinase", "streptokinase", "tissue plasminogen activator" or "tPA" covering the years 1966-1997 was carried out electronically. This was supplemented by searching the reference lists of the identified articles. Articles regarding exclusively intracerebral hemorrhage or hematoma, neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage, non-therapeutic issues, and laboratory research were excluded. The included articles are summarized in evidence and evaluation tables. Six articles evaluating the treatment of intraventricular hemorrhage in adults with intraventricular fibrinolytic agents were identified. One reports a small randomized clinical trial including 16 patients and appears to show a statistically insignificant preference for urokinase treatment. Five other reports present case series for which a total of 58 patients were exposed to either streptokinase, urokinase, or recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) and suggest good outcome. Two of them were with non-randomized retrospective or prospective controls, and three have no controls. Despite important limitations, all reports suggest that blood is more rapidly cleared from the ventricles and outcome is better when administering a fibrinolytic agent intraventricularly. While the experience presented in these papers suggests that intraventricular administration of fibrinolytic agents may be associated with fewer complications, more rapid clearing of blood from the ventricles, less late hydrocephalus, and better long-term outcome than is seen in patients treated with ventricular drainage alone, it is insufficient to recommend such treatment as a matter of policy. Substantial methodologic flaws render these findings suggestive at best. If the suggestive findings of these studies were confirmed in well-designed randomized clinical trials, an important impact on clinical practice could be expected.