European Stroke Journal最新文献

Introduction: Sex differences in stroke incidence, vascular risk factors (VRFs), and etiologies among young adults remain underexplored, particularly regarding age-related patterns.

Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed young adults (18-55 years) with first-ever ischemic stroke treated at certified acute stroke units/centers between 2014 and 2022, using Swiss Stroke Registry data. Stroke rates (per 100,000 person-years), VRFs, and etiologies were assessed by age and sex.

Results: Among 3,995 stroke patients, stroke rates were similar between sexes until age 35, after which men showed a more pronounced exponential increase. This rise was particularly notable in patients with elevated BMI and ⩾2 VRFs. The proportion of patients with ⩾2 VRFs rose with age (18-35: 22%; 36-50: 48%; 51-55: 63%). While no statistically significant differences in VRF profiles were observed between men and women aged 18-35, men accumulated VRFs about five years earlier than women, leading to a higher prevalence of multiple VRFs in men aged 36-50, with the gap narrowing in the 51-55 group. Stroke etiologies shifted with age: patent foramen ovale and cervical artery dissection predominated in younger patients, while large artery atherosclerosis, small vessel disease, and strokes of undetermined etiology increased with age, with notable sex differences.

Discussion and conclusions: This study highlights sex and age differences in ischemic stroke rates, VRFs, and etiologies among adults under 55 years. After 35, stroke rates rose more sharply in men, paralleling their higher VRF burden. These findings emphasize the importance of early management of VRFs-including overweight-to mitigate stroke risk.

Introduction: Cervical artery dissection is a major cause of stroke in the young. The optimal choice and duration of antithrombotic treatment for stroke prevention are debated, particularly beyond 3 months after symptom onset.

Patients and methods: TREAT-CAD (TREATment of Cervical Artery Dissection) was a randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment comparing non-inferiority of aspirin to anticoagulation (Vitamin-K-antagonists) in participants with symptomatic, Magnetic-Resonance-(MR)-imaging-verified cervical artery dissection. TREAT-CAD could not establish non-inferiority of aspirin to anticoagulation at 3 months. Thereafter participants could continue antithrombotic medication and obtained a standardized assessment of clinical and MR-Imaging outcomes between 3 and 6 months. As crossover to the other treatment arm was possible, we performed an as-treated analysis as main analysis. The main outcomes were new clinical (ischemic stroke, intracranial/major extracranial bleeding, or death) and new MR-Imaging outcomes (ischemic or hemorrhagic brain lesions).

Results: Among the 122 participants in the as-treated analysis, 3/93 (3.2%) aspirin-treated participants had new clinical (n = 1) and MRI-outcomes (n = 2) between 3 and 6 months while 1/29 (3.4%) anticoagulated participants had an MRI-outcome (n = 1). All outcome events were hemorrhagic while ischemic events were absent. No deaths occurred. This yields an absolute difference of 0.2% (95% CI -8.0% to 7.5%, p = 1.0).

Discussion and conclusion: During the extended follow-up period of a controlled randomized trial comparing aspirin to anticoagulation in cervical artery dissection, outcomes between 3 and 6 months after randomization occurred rarely, similarly often in both groups and were exclusively hemorrhagic events. Thus, studies balancing benefits versus harms of antithrombotic treatment beyond 3 months are warranted. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02046460. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02046460.

Introduction: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a prototypic inflammation marker, with elevated levels associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular events. To determine whether CRP could be a useful biomarker of stroke etiology, we investigated CRP expression in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) clots from large-artery atherosclerosis (LAA), cardio-embolism (CE) and cryptogenic (Crypt) subtypes.

Patients and methods: We analysed clot samples from AIS patients (LAA, CE, Crypt; n = 50 each), collected across five stroke centres in France, Serbia, Spain, and Japan between February 2021 and February 2024, as part of the prospective Clotbase International Registry of 460 patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy. Clot components were assessed using Martius Scarlet Blue staining. CRP expression was examined using immunohistochemistry and its co-localisation with clot components was detected using immunofluorescence. Clinical parameters were compared across etiologies.

Results: CRP expression varied significantly among clots. Most clots (65%) had minimal (⩽1%) CRP and 35% showed substantial (>1%) CRP. CE group had significantly more clots with substantial CRP than LAA and Crypt (48% vs 30% and 26%; p = 0.048). Clots with substantial CRP contained more fibrin (28.9%) than those with low CRP (20.6%; p = 0.005). Confocal microscopy showed CRP co-localised with fibrin and white blood cells (WBCs).

Discussion and conclusion: Significantly more AIS clots of CE expressed substantial CRP compared to those of LAA and Crypt, suggesting CE strokes may be more strongly linked to inflammation. Clots with substantial CRP expression displayed significantly more fibrin compared to those with minimal CRP expression, suggesting a potential association between inflammation and fibrin-rich clots. Further study of the relationship between CRP, fibrin and WBCs in clots may improve our understanding of the processes of thrombo-inflammation.

Promoting the highest quality, evidence-based research across Europe is a priority of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO). The ESO Guideline Board communicate and promote evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice through their Guidelines. However, there are many aspects of stroke care where robust scientific evidence may be unavailable or difficult to obtain. Thus, there is a need for practical, consensus guidance, produced following robust, consistent, and transparent methods, that is suitable for high-priority clinical scenarios where evidence is currently lacking. The ESO Guideline Board developed methods for producing practical clinical guidance based on expert consensus in response to this need. These ESO' White Papers' are intended to complement standard ESO Guidelines. Here, we outline the ESO White Papers' standard operating procedure (SOP). We will describe the motivation for creating White Papers, the preferred composition of writing groups and expert consensus panellists, the methods for achieving consensus, and how results will be communicated. To ensure that all voting members have an equal voice, our methods are based upon the Delphi process of repeated rounds of anonymous voting, feedback and review. We hope that the White Papers will add further value to the clinical practice guidance that is offered by ESO. We look forward to receiving suggestions for White Paper topics from the stroke community.

Introduction: Eccentric vessel wall enhancement (EVWE) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are inflammatory biomarkers associated with atherosclerotic disease. We investigated their prognostic value in patients with acute ischemic stroke receiving guideline-adherent medical treatment.

Patients and methods: In this prospective observational cohort study, patients with acute ischemic stroke attributed to intracranial arterial disease (ICAD) underwent vessel wall MRI and hs-CRP testing. The study included intracranial cases of both large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) and small vessel occlusion (SVO). The primary outcome was subsequent ischemic stroke during the follow-up period. The median follow-up duration was 21 months. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analysis was used to determine the associations between EVWE, hs-CRP levels, and subsequent ischemic stroke.

Results: Among 191 patients, 81 (42.4%) had EVWE. EVWE positivity showed a trend toward a lower risk of subsequent ischemic stroke compared to EVWE negativity (HR 0.32, 95% CI 0.12-0.87; p = 0.061). Hs-CRP levels were not associated with recurrent stroke risk. The combination of EVWE positivity and low hs-CRP levels (<1.25 mg/l) was associated with a favorable outcome, while EVWE negativity and high hs-CRP levels (⩾1.25 mg/l) were associated with an unfavorable outcome (HR 0.143, 95% CI 0.04-0.50; p = 0.031).

Discussion: In this observational study of patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stroke receiving optimal medical therapy, EVWE positivity appeared to be associated with a trend toward lower risk of recurrent stroke, though this relationship requires further validation.

Conclusion: The combination of EVWE and hs-CRP status might potentially offer prognostic information, with preliminary data suggesting that EVWE positivity and low hs-CRP levels could be associated with more favorable outcomes in patients receiving guideline-adherent medical treatment. These preliminary findings suggest a possible role for combining imaging and serum inflammatory biomarkers in risk stratification, though larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these associations.

Introduction: Distal arterial occlusions can cause measurable changes in the flow wave profile in proximal segments of the feeding artery. Our objective was to study the diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the common carotid arteries (CCA) for detection of anterior circulation large vessel occlusion (ac-LVO) in patients with suspected stroke.

Patients and methods: We conducted a prospective, single-center, observational study of adult patients with suspected stroke admitted in the emergency department. Flow wave profiles of both CCAs were generated by non-specialists using POCUS as soon as possible after admission. ac-LVO was defined as an internal carotid artery or M1 occlusion in CT- or MR-angiography. The diagnostic performances for detection of ac-LVO using flow wave parameters were calculated.

Results: Among 283 patients recruited during a 10-month period, 257 patients (91%) had CCA ultrasound images of sufficient quality and were included for analysis. The mean age was 75 years (IQR 62-83), 131 were female (51.0%), median baseline NIHSS was 2 (IQR 0-5). The most frequent final diagnosis was ischemic stroke (49.4%), ac-LVO was present in 30 patients (11.9%). The median duration of POCUS was 3 min (IQR 2-5). Among all flow wave parameters, the highest diagnostic accuracy for ac-LVO detection was found for end-diastolic velocity difference between sides (AUC = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.85-0.93), with a specificity of 83% (95%CI = 78-88%) at a predefined sensitivity threshold of 80%.

Discussion and conclusion: POCUS of the CCA in patients with suspected stroke can predict the presence of ac-LVO. These results need to be replicated in a prehospital setting.

Background: We aimed to assess impairments on health-related quality of life, and mental health resulting from Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) with monocular visual field loss and posterior circulation ischemic stroke (PCIS) with full or partial hemianopia using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Methods: In a prospective study, consecutive patients with acute RAO on fundoscopy and PCIS on imaging were recruited during their surveillance on a stroke unit over a period of 15 months. Baseline characteristics were determined from medical records and interviews. Health-related quality of life (PROM Information System 10-Question-Short-Form, PROMIS-10), and mental health symptoms (Patient-Health-Questionnaire-4, PHQ-4) were assessed 3 and 12 months after admission postally and via phone.

Results: Ffity-seven patients with RAO and 19 with isolated full or partial hemianopia determined by the NIHSS (median = 2; IQR:0/2) according to PCIS were included. Characteristics of cardiovascular risk factors, and functional status pre-stroke were comparable between the groups. At 3 months, mean ± standard deviation T-scores of PROMIS physical and mental health were 47.1 ± 8.8 and 46.7 ± 8.8 for patients with RAO, and 43.4 ± 9.8 and 43.2 ± 6.2 for PCIS. Compared to 50 ± 10 in the general population, scores after RAO (p = 0.04; p = 0.02) and PCIS (p = 0.01; p < 0.001) were lower in both domains after 3 months. Concerning PCIS, scores in the mental health domain remained decreased at 12 months (p = 0.04). On the PHQ-4, 25% of patients with RAO, and 62% with PCIS scored indicative for anxious and/or depressive syndromes at 3 months.

Conclusions: RAO led only to partial and to less persistent mental impairments than PCIS. This suggests that a different approach involving complex visual and neuropsychological treatment over a longer period of time needs to be considered for post-stroke care of PCIS.

Trial registration information: The trial was submitted at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, under NCT03795948.

Introduction: Stroke incidence in younger adults is increasing worldwide yet few comprehensive studies exist from a UK population. We investigated the risk factors, mechanisms, functional outcome and stroke recurrence rate in a cohort of young adults with stroke.

Patients and methods: We included consecutive patients (<55 years) with ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) admitted to the University College London Hospitals Hyperacute Stroke Unit between 2017 and 2020. Ischaemic stroke was classified using Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria and ICH using modified CLAS-ICH criteria. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of unfavourable functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] > 1) at 6 months.

Results: Five hundred fifty-two patients were included (median age 47, IQR 41-51; 33% female; 76% ischaemic stroke). Common risk factors included dyslipidaemia (57%), hypertension (40%), and cigarette smoking (34%). Ischaemic stroke was mostly due to cardioembolism (22%). Probable cerebral small vessel disease was the most frequent ICH aetiology (53%). Unfavourable functional outcome was prevalent in 50% at 6 months and was associated with ICH (OR 2.02, 95%CI 1.14-3.58, p = 0.017), female sex (OR 1.62, 95%CI 1.03-2.55, p = 0.037), admission stroke severity (per point increase, OR 1.11, 95%CI 1.07-1.16, p < 0.001) and pre-morbid mRS 2-5 (OR 3.16; 95%CI 1.11-9.03, p = 0.032). 4.4% had a recurrent stroke within 6 months.

Discussion and conclusion: Traditional cardiovascular risk factors are common in young adults with stroke. Unfavourable functional outcome is associated with female sex, ICH, severe stroke and pre-morbid disability. These findings can inform national stroke prevention and rehabilitation strategies.

Purpose: Population level tracking of post-stroke functional outcomes is critical to guide interventions that reduce the burden of stroke-related disability. However, functional outcomes are often missing or documented in unstructured notes. We developed a natural language processing (NLP) model that reads electronic health records (EHR) notes to automatically determine the modified Rankin Scale (mRS).

Method: We included consecutive patients (⩾18 years) with acute stroke admitted to our center (2015-2024). mRS scores were obtained from the Get With the Guidelines registry and clinical notes (if documented), and used as the gold standard to compare against NLP-generated scores. We used text-based features from notes, along with age, sex, discharge status, and outpatient follow-up to train a logistic regression for prediction of good (0-2) versus poor (3-6) mRS, and a linear regression for the full range of mRS scores. The models were trained for prediction of mRS at hospital discharge and post-discharge. The models were externally validated in a dataset of patients with brain injuries from a different healthcare center.

Findings: We included 5307 patients, 5006 in train and test and 301 in validation; average age was 69 (SD 15) and 65 (SD 17) years, respectively; 47% female. The logistic regression achieved an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.94 [CI 0.93-0.95] (test) and 0.94 [0.91-0.96] (validation), and the linear model a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.91 [0.87-0.94] (test) and 1.17 [1.06-1.28] (validation).

Discussion and conclusion: The NLP-based model is suitable for use in large-scale phenotyping of stroke functional outcomes and population health research.

Background: National stroke clinical quality registries/audits support improvements in stroke care. In a 2016 systematic review, 28 registries were identified. Since 2016 there have been important advances in stroke care, including the development of thrombectomy services. Therefore, we sought to understand whether registries have evolved with these advances in care. The aim of this systematic review was to identify current, hospital-based national stroke registries/audits and describe variables (processes, outcome), methods, funding and governance).

Methods: We searched four databases (21st May 2015 to 1st February 2024), grey literature and stroke organisations' websites. Initially two reviewers screened each citation; when agreement was satisfactory, one of four reviewers screened each citation. The same process was applied to full texts. If there were no new publications from registries identified in the original 2016 review, we contacted the registry leads. We extracted data using predefined categories on country (including income level), clinical/process variables, methods, funding and governance.

Results: We found 37 registries from 31 countries (28 high income, four upper-middle income, five lower-middle income) of which 16 had been identified in 2016 and 21 were new. Twenty-two of the same variables were collected by >50% of registries/audits (mostly acute care, including thrombectomy, and secondary prevention), compared with only four variables in 2016. Descriptions of funding, management, methods of consent and data privacy, follow-up, feedback to hospitals, linkage to other datasets and alignment of variables with guidelines were variably reported. Reasons for apparent termination of some registries was unclear.

Conclusions: The total number of stroke registries has increased since 2016, and the number of variables collected has increased, reflecting advances in stroke care. However, some registries appeared to have ceased; the reasons are unclear.