Inclusion Criteria:

• Acute ischemic stroke
• NIH stroke scale score > 5
• Age >= 18 and <= 83
• ALB or placebo can be administered within 5 hours of symptom onset
• ALB or placebo can be administered within 60 minutes of tPA administration in the thrombolysis group
• Signed informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Episode/exacerbation of congestive heart failure (CHF) from any cause in the last 6 months. An episode of congestive heart failure is any heart failure that required a change in medication, diet or hospitalization.
• Known valvular heart disease with CHF in the last 6 months.
• Severe aortic stenosis or mitral stenosis.
• Cardiac surgery involving thoracotomy (e.g., coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), valve replacement surgery) in the last 6 months.
• Acute myocardial infarction in the last 6 months.
• Signs or symptoms of acute myocardial infarction, including ECG findings, on admission.
• Baseline elevated serum troponin level on admission (>0.1 mcg/L)
• Suspicion of aortic dissection on admission.
• Acute arrhythmia (including any tachycardia - or bradycardia) with hemodynamic instability.
• Findings on physical examination of any of the following: (1) jugular venous distention (JVP > 4 cm above the sternal angle); (2) 3rd heart sound; (3) resting tachycardia (heart rate > 100/min) attributable to congestive heart failure; (4) abnormal hepatojugular reflux; (5) lower extremity pitting edema attributable to congestive heart failure; and/or (6) definite chest x-ray evidence of pulmonary edema.
• Current acute or chronic lung disease requiring supplemental chronic or intermittent oxygen therapy.
• Historical mRS ≥2. Patients who live in a nursing home or who are not fully independent for activities of daily living immediately prior to the stroke are not eligible for the trial.
• In-patient stroke. I.e., patients with a stroke occurring as a complication of hospitalization for another condition, or as a complication of a procedure.
• Planned acute use of intra-arterial (IA) tPA or acute endovascular intervention (e.g., stenting, angioplasty, thrombus retrieval device use) must conform to the following criteria: (1) begin within 5 hours of symptom onset, and (2) finish within 7 hours of symptom-onset.
• Fever, defined as core body temperature > 37.5oC (99.5oF).
• Serum creatinine > 2.0 mg/dL or 180 µmol/L.
• Profound dehydration.
• Evidence of intracranial hemorrhage (intracerebral hematoma (ICH), subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), epidural hemorrhage, acute or chronic subdural hematoma (SDH)) on the baseline CT or MRI scan.
• History of allergy to albumin.
• History of latex rubber allergy.
• Severe chronic anemia with Hgb < 7.5 g/dL
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding or positive pregnancy test. (Women of childbearing age must have a negative pregnancy test prior to ALB administration.)
• Concurrent participation in any other therapeutic clinical trial.
• Evidence of any other major life-threatening or serious medical condition that would prevent completion of 3-month follow-up, impair the assessment of outcome, or in which ALB therapy would be contraindicated or might cause harm to the subject.