Long-term Efficacy of Remote Ischemic Postconditioning After Rt-PA Intravenous Thrombolysis in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: The Randomized RESPONTH Trial

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the long-term efficacy of our previous study in acute ischemic stroke(AIS) patients who underwent either remote ischemic postconditioning(RIPC) or sham treatment after intravenous thrombolysis. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Dose the RIPC treatment combined with IV thrombolysis can improve the long-term functional outcome in AIS patients?
• Dose the RIPC treatment combined with IV thrombolysis can improve the incidence rates of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, recurrent stroke/TIA, new-onset clinical AF on this long-term follow-up? A single rater (A.E.P.) trained by an experienced stroke physician (S.T.E.) contacted patients, relatives, and family physicians to gather all available medical information on the following issues: 1) survival status, 2) date of death in those who died (based on information of the treating physicians), 3) mRS score at the time of the interview, 4) recurrent stroke/TIA, 5) new onset atrial fibrillation, 6) other cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, peripheral arteriopathy.

Researchers will compare RIPC group and control group to see if the RIPC treatment have a long-term effect in AIS patients.