Is point-of-care accurate for indicating thrombolysis in anticoagulated patients on oral anticoagulation treatments?

The use of oral anticoagulation treatment (OAT) in patients with an international normalized ratio (INR) higher than 1.7 is a contraindication to thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke. The aim of the present study is to compare the use of point-of-care (POC) coagulometers to the standard coagulation analysis (SCA) procedure of the INR as a decision-making test for use with patients taking OAT. Method: Eighty patients on chronic OAT underwent a POC and an SCA during a regular outpatient evaluation. Results: When comparing the abilities of the POC test and the SCA test to identify adequate levels for thrombolysis (≤1.7), the POC had a sensitivity of 96.6% (95%CI 88.4-99.1) and a specificity of 60.0% (95%CI 38.6-78). POC overestimated INR levels by 0.51 points compared to the SCA test. Conclusion: POC has a high sensitivity compared to the SCA test for the identification of patients within the cut-off point for thrombolysis.