Giving the bolus thrombolytic tenecteplase in a mobile stroke unit resulted in signs of improved efficacy compared with the standard of care thrombolytic alteplase, without any safety concerns, in a new study.
The TASTE-A study found that tenecteplase and was initiated faster than alteplase and was associated with substantially smaller posttreatment perfusion lesion volume, and greater "ultra-early" clinical recovery.
"Despite a median of 47 minutes between thrombolysis initiation in the mobile stroke unit and emergency department imaging, we were able to observe substantial ultra-early tenecteplase treatment benefits compared with alteplase," said study investigator Andrew Bivard, PhD, imaging scientist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Bivard presented the trial today at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC-2022) in Lyon, France, and also accessible virtually.
It was also simultaneously published online in The Lancet Neurology.
"What we did in this study was to combine two very exciting elements coming together in stroke at the moment — the use of mobile stroke units, and the use of tenecteplase as a front-line thrombolytic agent," Bivard explained.
The study was conducted in the Melbourne mobile stroke unit, which is staffed by a neurologist, a stroke nurse, radiographer, and two paramedics. It is also equipped with a CT scanner to enable thrombolysis to be given in a prehospital setting and thus speed up time to treatment, Bivard noted.
