THrombolysis for Acute Wake-up and Unclear-onset Strokes With Alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg Trial (THAWS)

Summary

The purpose of this study is to clarify efficacy and safety of MRI-based intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase for patients with acute wake-up ischemic stroke and those having acute ischemic stroke with unknown time of symptom onset.

Timeline

Start

2014-05

Primary completion

2019-12

Completion

2020-03

Outcome

Missed primary endpoint

paper Favorable outcome was comparable between the alteplase group (32/68, 47.1%) and the control group (28/58, 48.3%; relative risk [RR], 0.97 [95% CI, 0.68-1.41]; P=0.892). PMID 32248771 ↗

Publications

• Background Koga M, Toyoda K, Kimura K, Yamamoto H, Sasaki M, Hamasaki T, Kitazono T, Aoki J, Seki K, Homma K, Sato S, Minematsu K; THAWS investigators. THrombolysis for Acute Wake-up and unclear-onset Strokes with alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg (THAWS) Trial. Int J Stroke. 2014 Dec;9(8):1117-24. doi: 10.1111/ijs.12360. Epub 2014 Aug 4.
• Background Toyoda K, Koga M, Hayakawa M, Yamagami H. Acute reperfusion therapy and stroke care in Asia after successful endovascular trials. Stroke. 2015 Jun;46(6):1474-81. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.008781. Epub 2015 May 5.
• Inoue M, Kamogawa N, Koga M, Yoshimura S, Fukuda-Doi M, Miwa K, Sasaki M, Aoki J, Kimura K, Ihara M, Toyoda K. Associations between fluid-attenuated inversion recovery vessel hyperintensities and Alberta stroke program early CT score and clinical outcomes in stroke patients with unknown time of onset: A sub-analysis from a randomized controlled trial. Int J Stroke. 2026 Mar;21(3):409-418. doi: 10.1177/17474930251377522. Epub 2025 Aug 30.
• Toyoda K, Inoue M, Yoshimura S, Yamagami H, Sasaki M, Fukuda-Doi M, Kimura K, Asakura K, Miwa K, Kanzawa T, Ihara M, Kondo R, Shiozawa M, Ohtaki M, Kamiyama K, Itabashi R, Iwama T, Aoki J, Minematsu K, Yamamoto H, Koga M; THAWS trial investigators*. Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Thrombolysis (0.6 mg/kg) Was Beneficial for Unknown Onset Stroke Above a Certain Core Size: THAWS RCT Substudy. Stroke. 2021 Jan;52(1):12-19. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.030848. Epub 2020 Dec 10.
• Koga M, Yamamoto H, Inoue M, Asakura K, Aoki J, Hamasaki T, Kanzawa T, Kondo R, Ohtaki M, Itabashi R, Kamiyama K, Iwama T, Nakase T, Yakushiji Y, Igarashi S, Nagakane Y, Takizawa S, Okada Y, Doijiri R, Tsujino A, Ito Y, Ohnishi H, Inoue T, Takagi Y, Hasegawa Y, Shiokawa Y, Sakai N, Osaki M, Uesaka Y, Yoshimura S, Urabe T, Ueda T, Ihara M, Kitazono T, Sasaki M, Oita A, Yoshimura S, Fukuda-Doi M, Miwa K, Kimura K, Minematsu K, Toyoda K; THAWS Trial Investigators. Thrombolysis With Alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg for Stroke With Unknown Time of Onset: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Stroke. 2020 May;51(5):1530-1538. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.119.028127. Epub 2020 Apr 6.

Drugs

Indications