2.1. General Information

This retrospective study selected 150 elderly AIS patients who visited the Longmen County People's Hospital between January 2019 and June 2021 and assigned them to observation (n = 100) and control (n = 50) groups. The general data of the two cohorts were balanced and comparable (P > 0.05). The Ethics Committee at the Longmen County People's Hospital approved this research, and patients and their families agreed and signed the informed consent.

Inclusion criteria are as follows: ① diagnosis of AIS in our hospital; ② age > 60; ③ single lesion; ④ first episode, with onset-to-thrombolysis time less than 4.5 h; and ⑤ duration of symptoms and signs of brain dysfunction > 1 h. Exclusion criteria are as follows: ① presence of intracranial hemorrhage as indicated by CT examination; ② history of stroke and major head trauma within the last 3 months; ③ tendency of active bleeding focus or bleeding; ④ intracranial tumors, aneurysms, and arteriovenous malformations; ⑤ recent use of systematic anticoagulant, thrombolytic, and fibrinolytic treatments; ⑥ organic diseases of liver, kidney, heart, and other organs; and ⑦ mental system, immune system, and blood system diseases.