International Journal of Stroke最新文献

Background: Post-stroke emotionalism affects one in five stroke sufferers 6 months after their stroke, but despite its frequency remains a poorly understood stroke symptom. The literature is limited, especially compared to other frequently observed neurological conditions such as aphasia and visual neglect.

Aim and methods: This narrative review presents a summary of the post-stroke emotionalism literature, to inform clinical practice and future research. We cover discussion of definitions, prevalence, neurobiology, predisposing and precipitating factors, and treatment.

Results: Increasing evidence suggests that damage to specific areas functionally linked to emotion expression or regulation processes, disruption to structural pathways and those related to serotonin production and modulation individually or in concert give rise to emotionalism-type presentations. A range of emotionalism measurement tools have been used in research contexts making between study comparisons difficult. Testing for Emotionalism after Recent Stroke-Questionnaire (TEARS-Q) has recently been developed to allow standardized assessment. Treatment options are limited, and there have been few adequately powered treatment trials. Antidepressants may reduce severity, but more trial data are required. There have been no randomized-controlled trials of non-pharmacological interventions.

Conclusions: More research is needed to improve recognition and treatment of this common and disabling symptom. We conclude with research priorities and recommendations for the field.

Background: Sex differences in stroke outcomes are notable, with women experiencing higher incidence rates, greater disability-adjusted life years, and poorer recovery compared to men, even after adjusting for age and comorbidities. Despite the disproportionate burden in women, studies have reported that women are less likely to receive appropriate stroke treatment than men.

Aim: This study investigated temporal trends of sex differences in acute reperfusion therapy and early outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke over 10 years in South Korea.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of Korean Stroke Registry included patients with acute ischemic stroke from 2012 to 2021. The study outcomes were the temporal trends of acute reperfusion therapy and early outcomes over 10 years in men and women, respectively. In addition, this study analyzed the temporal trends of sex differences in these parameters during the same period. Early outcomes include the proportions of favorable functional outcomes at discharge, discharge patterns, and in-hospital mortality.

Results: A total of 93,692 patients (68.4 years, 40.1% women) with acute ischemic stroke were finally enrolled. Women had a higher age at stroke onset, a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation, and more severe strokes than men. Women had lower proportion of favorable functional outcomes at discharge and higher proportion of in-hospital mortality compared to men each year. The proportion of patients who received intravenous thrombolysis was lower or similar in women compared to men in most years, and the proportion of patients who received endovascular thrombectomy did not significantly differ between sexes annually. Sex differences in acute reperfusion therapy remained unchanged over 10 years.

Conclusion: Women have received acute reperfusion therapy at similar or lower rates than men and experienced poorer outcomes, despite having more stroke risk factors and often more severe strokes.

Background: The Carotid web (CaW) is a cause of stroke, particularly in younger individuals. However, the frequency and the radiological features of the web's morphology associated with stroke risk are uncertain. We determined the CaW radiological features on computed tomography (CT) angiography associated with ipsilateral stroke.

Materials and methods: Data from six studies of patients with acute ischemic stroke were pooled. Identification and measurement of CaWs were performed by experienced readers using baseline neck CT angiography. We assessed six 2D CaW radiological features on sagittal oblique images, namely, main axis length, thickness, height, base width, distance to wall, and angle between the web main axis and carotid wall, and CaW volume on 3D images. CaWs were divided into symptomatic if acute ischemic stroke was in the ipsilateral internal carotid artery territory and its etiology was undetermined and asymptomatic if one condition was unmet. Univariable and multivariable analyses were conducted to assess the association between each radiological CaW feature and symptomatic CaW.

Results: Of the 3442 patients in the pooled data with assessable CTAs, 60 (1.7%) had CaW. In patients with CaW, median age was 59 (interquartile range [IQR]: 50-68) years, 60% were women, and 3 patients had bilateral CaWs. There were 39 (62%) symptomatic and 24 (38%) asymptomatic CaWs. Patients with symptomatic CaW were younger (55 (IQR: 49-61) years versus 69 (IQR: 52-75) years), had lower rates of hypertension (9 (25.0%) versus 12 (57.1%)) and more intracranial large vessel occlusions compared to patients with asymptomatic CaWs. After adjusting for age, hypertension, and occlusion location, CaW length (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.84 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03-3.28)), thickness (aOR: 2.31 (95% CI 1.08-4.97)), volume (aOR: 1.07 per 1 mm³ increment (95% CI: 1.01-1.12)), and angle relative to the carotid wall (aOR: 0.95 (95% CI: 0.91-0.99)) were associated with symptomatic CaW.

Conclusion: Radiological assessment of CaW morphology may determine its potential causal role in ischemic stroke etiology. Symptomatic CaWs tend to be longer, larger, and oriented at more acute angles relative to the carotid wall as compared to asymptomatic CaWs.

Background: Secondary prevention interventions to reduce post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) can be aided by the early identification of high-risk individuals who would benefit from risk factor modification.

Aims: To develop and evaluate a predictive model to identify patients at increased risk of PSCI over 5 years using data easily accessible from electronic health records.

Methods: Cohort study that included primary care patients from two academic medical centers. Patients were aged 45 years or older, without prior stroke or prevalent cognitive impairment, with primary care visits and an incident ischemic stroke between 2003 and 2016 (development/internal validation cohort) or 2010 and 2022 (external validation cohort). Predictors of PSCI were ascertained from the electronic health record. The outcome was incident dementia/cognitive impairment within 5 years and beginning 3 months following stroke, ascertained using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth/Tenth Revision (ICD-9/10) codes. For model variable selection, we considered potential predictors of PSCI and constructed 400 bootstrap samples with two-thirds of the model derivation sample. We ran 10-fold cross-validated Cox proportional hazards models using a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) penalty. Variables selected in >25% of samples were included.

Results: The analysis included 332 incident diagnoses of PSCI in the development cohort (n = 3741), and 161 and 128 incident diagnoses in the internal (n = 1925) and external (n = 2237) validation cohorts, respectively. The C-statistic for predicting PSCI was 0.731 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.694-0.768) in the internal validation cohort, and 0.724 (95% CI: 0.681-0.766) in the external validation cohort. A risk score based on the beta coefficients of predictors from the development cohort stratified patients into low (0-7 points), intermediate (8-11 points), and high (12-23 points) risk groups. The hazard ratios (HRs) for incident PSCI were significantly different by risk categories in internal (high, HR: 6.2, 95% CI: 4.1-9.3; Intermediate, HR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.8-4.1) and external (high, HR: 6.1, 95% CI: 3.9-9.6; Intermediate, HR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.9-4.3) validation cohorts.

Conclusion: Five-year risk of PSCI can be accurately predicted using routinely collected data. Model output can be used to risk stratify and identify individuals at increased risk for PSCI for preventive efforts.

Data access statement: Mass General Brigham data contain protected health information and cannot be shared publicly. The data processing scripts used to perform analyses will be made available to interested researchers upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Background: State-of-the-art stroke treatment significantly reduces lesion size and stroke severity, but it remains unclear whether these therapeutic advances have diminished the burden of post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI).

Aims: In a cohort of patients receiving modern state-of-the-art stroke care including endovascular therapy, we assessed the frequency of PSCI and the pattern of domain-specific cognitive deficits, identified risk factors for PSCI, and determined the impact of acute PSCI on stroke outcome.

Methods: In this prospective monocentric cohort study, we examined patients with first-ever anterior circulation ischemic stroke without pre-stroke cognitive decline, using a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment ⩽10 days after symptom onset. Normative data were stratified by demographic variables. We defined PSCI as at least moderate (<1.5 standard deviation) deficits in ⩾2 cognitive domains. Multivariable regression analysis was applied to define risk factors for PSCI.

Results: We analyzed 329 non-aphasic patients admitted from December 2020 to July 2023 (67.2 ± 14.4 years old, 41.3% female, 13.1 ± 2.7 years of education). Although most patients had mild stroke (median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) 24 h = 1.00 (0.00; 3.00); 87.5% with NIHSS ⩽ 5), 69.3% of them presented with PSCI 2.7 ± 2.0 days post-stroke. The most severely and often affected cognitive domains were verbal learning, episodic memory, executive functions, selective attention, and constructive abilities (39.1%-51.2% of patients), whereas spatial neglect was less frequent (18.5%). The risk of PSCI was reduced with more years of education (odds ratio (OR) = 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.23-0.99) and right hemisphere lesions (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.26-0.84), and increased with stroke severity (NIHSS 24 h, OR = 4.19, 95% CI = 2.72-6.45), presence of hyperlipidemia (OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.01-3.68), but was not influenced by age. After adjusting for stroke severity and depressive symptoms, acute PSCI was associated with poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale > 2, F = 13.695, p < 0.001) and worse global cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score, F = 20.069, p < 0.001) at 3 months post-stroke.

Conclusion: Despite modern stroke therapy and many strokes having mild severity, PSCI in the acute stroke phase remains frequent and associated with worse outcome. The most prevalent were learning and memory deficits. Cognitive reserve operationalized as years of education independently protects post-stroke cognition.

Background and objectives: Cancer is associated with an increased risk of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and venous thromboembolism. The role of a cardiac right-to-left shunt (RLS) as a surrogate parameter for paradoxical embolism in cancer-related strokes is uncertain. We sought to investigate the relationship between the presence of an RLS and cancer in AIS patients.

Methods: We included consecutive AIS patients hospitalized at our tertiary stroke center between January 2015 and December 2020 with available RLS status as detected on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Active cancers were retrospectively identified and the association with RLS was assessed with multivariable logistic regression and inverse probability of treatment weighting to minimize the ascertainment bias of having a TEE obtained.

Results: Of the 2236 AIS patients included, 103 (4.6%) had active cancer, of whom 24 (23%) were diagnosed with RLS. An RLS was present in 774 out of the 2133 AIS patients without active cancer (36%). After adjustment and weighting, the absence of RLS was associated with active cancer (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.29; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-4.58). When analysis was restricted to patients younger than 60 years of age or those with a high-risk RLS (Risk of Paradoxical Embolism Score ⩾ 6), there was no association between RLS and cancer (aOR, 3.07; 95% CI, 0.79-11.88 and aOR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.10-3.10, respectively).

Conclusion: RLS was diagnosed less frequently in AIS patients with cancer than in cancer-free patients, suggesting that arterial sources may play a larger role in cancer-related strokes than paradoxical venous embolization. Future studies are needed to validate these findings and evaluate potential therapeutic implications, such as the general indication, or lack thereof, for patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure in this patient population.

Background: Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) and intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) have an unclear benefit in those with pre-stroke dementia or cognitive impairment, as these patients were often excluded from landmark stroke trials. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the outcomes of IVT and EVT in these populations.

Aims: Our systematic review, conforming to the Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines, investigated studies on acute ischemic stroke patients with pre-stroke dementia or cognitive impairment treated with IVT or EVT. Primary outcome was favorable 90-day outcome (mRS 0-2). Secondary outcomes included 90-day mortality, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (SICH), and radiographic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH).

Summary of review: Nine articles were identified, with five observational studies of IVT use in patients with (n = 1078) and without dementia (n = 2805) being selected for the meta-analysis. There were no significant differences in favorable outcome (adjusted OR: 0.61, 95% CI 0.24-1.59), mortality (unadjusted OR: 1.19, 95% CI 0.86-1.64), ICH (unadjusted OR: 1.32, 95% CI 0.79-2.19), and symptomatic ICH (unadjusted OR: 0.94, 95% CI 0.70-1.25) for patients undergoing IVT with pre-stroke dementia versus those without. One EVT study (n = 615 with dementia vs n = 9600 without) found no significant differences in outcomes apart from an increased odds of ICH for those with pre-existing dementia (adjusted OR: 1.57, 95% CI 1.03-2.40). A pooled analysis of three IVT studies showed no significant association of cognitive impairment (n = 93 vs n = 211 without) with all assessed outcomes, whereas a study of EVT found that pre-stroke cognitive impairment was associated with poor 90-day outcomes (mRS 3-6).

Conclusion: These results suggest no substantial safety issues in the use of IVT or EVT for patients with pre-existing dementia or cognitive impairment compared to those without. However, the efficacy of these therapies in this demographic remains uncertain. Further rigorous studies that include a more nuanced outcome measurement approach are warranted.

Registration: URL: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/; Unique identifier: CRD42021240499.

Background and aim: The revised Boston criteria v2.0 for cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) add two radiological markers to the existing criteria: severe visible perivascular spaces in the centrum semiovale and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in a multispot pattern. This study aims to determine the sensitivity of the updated criteria in mutation carriers with Dutch-type hereditary CAA (D-CAA) in an early and later disease stage.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included presymptomatic and symptomatic D-CAA mutation carriers from our prospective natural history study (AURORA) at the Leiden University Medical Center between 2018 and 2021. 3-Tesla scans were assessed for CAA-related magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers. We compared the sensitivity of the Boston criteria v2.0 to the previously used modified Boston criteria v1.5.

Results: We included 64 D-CAA mutation carriers (mean age 49 years, 55% women, 55% presymptomatic). At least one white matter (WM) feature was seen in 55/64 mutation carriers (86%: 74% presymptomatic, 100% symptomatic). Fifteen (23%) mutation carriers, all presymptomatic, showed only WM features and no hemorrhagic markers. The sensitivity for probable CAA was similar between the new and the previous criteria: 11/35 (31%) in presymptomatic mutation carriers and 29/29 (100%) in symptomatic mutation carriers. The sensitivity for possible CAA in presymptomatic mutation carriers increased from 0/35 (0%) to 15/35 (43%) with the new criteria.

Conclusion: The Boston criteria v2.0 increase the sensitivity for detecting possible CAA in presymptomatic D-CAA mutation carriers and, therefore, improve the detection of the early phase of CAA.