What is the purpose of the NINDS t-PA Stroke Study Group?
The purpose of the NINDS t-PA Stroke Study Group is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) as an acute treatment for ischemic stroke. This study group was established by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to conduct the NINDS t-PA Stroke Trial, which was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that involved 624 patients with acute ischemic stroke. The trial results showed that t-PA was effective in improving clinical outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke and led to the approval of t-PA for use in acute ischemic stroke in the United States in 1996. The study group also conducted a subgroup analysis of the trial results to assess the efficacy of t-PA in different subgroups of patients and published the results in 1997.  