In-hospital ischemic stroke in ophthalmic patients

Abstract

Justifi cation. Due to the high prevalence of diseases of the visual organs (cataracts, glaucoma, etc.) and the large number of surgical interventions performed annually in elderly and senile people, the prevention of in-hospital ischemic stroke (IHS) is an urgent task.The purpose of the work. To study the risk factors of development, characteristics of care and outcomes of IHS in ophthalmic patients.Material and methods. The study was performed in the period from 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2022 on the basis of ophthalmological departments specializing in the performance of planned vitreoretinal surgical interventions, two large multidisciplinary hospitals in St. Petersburg.Results. It has been established that perioperative ischemic stroke (included in the structure of the IHS) is a rare complication of minimally invasive ophthalmic operations. Its share was 0.07% (n = 5) of the total number of patients who underwent elective ophthalmological intervention during the year; the total share of patients with IHS (taking into account 4 cases of ischemic stroke in the preoperative period) was 0.13%. Most strokes (n = 5; 55.6%) belonged to the cardioembolic subtype, the proportion of using reperfusion techniques was high and amounted to 33.3% (2 endovascular interventions, 1 systemic thrombolysis); the proportion of adverse outcomes was 22.2% (n = 2). A distinctive characteristic of patients with IHS was a combination of high comorbidity with insuffi  cient antithrombotic prophylaxis, which consisted in the cancellation of antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants in the preoperative period.Conclusion. Current recommendations on perioperative management of patients indicate the need to continue taking antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs for most ophthalmic operations, due to the predominance of threats of thromboembolic complications over the risk of retrobulbar bleeding.