Ultra-early hematoma growth in antithrombotic pretreated patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) pretreated with antithrombotic drugs may have increased early hematoma growth, which would increase mortality risk. The effect of antiplatelet (AP) and vitamin K antagonist (VKA) pretreatment on ultra-early hematoma growth (uHG) and its relationship with mortality in patients with acute supratentorial ICH was analyzed. METHODS: This is an observational retrospective study of a prospective register of 197 ICH patients with first computed tomography (CT) scan taken <6 h from ICH symptom onset. ICH volume was calculated by the ABC/2 formula and uHG by the baseline ICH volume/onset-to-CT time (ml/h) formula. The uHG analysis took into account the patient's pretreatment (none, AP or VKA) and the relationship between uHG and very-early (first 24 h) and 3-month mortality. RESULTS: In the pretreatment group, 50 (25.4%) patients were treated with AP and 37 (18.8%) with VKA. The median (interquartile range 25-75) uHG was 19.7 ml/h (2.9-44.8) for AP pretreated patients, 16.2 ml/h (5.1-42.5) for VKA pretreated patients and 8.4 ml/h (2.4-21.8) for non-pretreated patients, P = 0.019. The uHG was higher in patients with very-early [42.1 ml/h (20.1-79.6)] and total 3-month mortality [28.0 ml/h (15.8-52.5)] compared with survivors [3.9 ml/h (1.5-10.4)], P < 0.0001. Adjusted by ICH severity and previous functional status, uHG was an independent factor related to very-early (P = 0.028) and total 3-month mortality (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Patients pretreated with antithrombotics have much higher uHG, which would explain the increased mortality in these patients compared to untreated patients.

Alcohol overuse and intracerebral hemorrhage: characteristics and long-term outcome.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Alcohol overuse (AOu) is considered an important risk factor for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The clinical and outcome characteristics of these patients (AOu-ICH) are not well known. METHODS: All patients with ICH admitted to a single university tertiary stroke center were prospectively studied from May 2005 to May 2015. Demographic profiles, radiologic characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with acute ICH and previous AOu (>40 g/day or >300 g/week) were analyzed. RESULTS: During the study period, 555 patients with spontaneous primary ICH met the inclusion criteria. A total of 81 patients (14.6%) reported AOu (24.3% of men vs. 3.1% of women; P < 0.0001; mean age, 63 years old for AOu vs. 74 years old for non-AOu; P < 0.0001). Of the classic cardiovascular risk factors, only smoking was associated with AOu (63% vs. 12.2% of non-AOu; P < 0.0001). Initial severity and hematoma volume were similar in both groups, with no observed differences in stroke care or in-hospital medical complications. Patients with AOu had worse outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, 3-6 points) than patients without AOu at 3 months [odds ratio (OR), 2.50; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.32-4.75; P = 0.005] and 12 months (OR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.23-5.00; P = 0.011). A similar trend was observed at 5 years (OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 0.96-6.39; P = 0.059). CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol overuse was present in 14.6% of patients with ICH, who were predominantly male, smokers and a mean of 11 years younger than the non-AOu group. Despite a lack of differences in initial clinical severity, stroke care and early medical complications, patients with AOu had worse short- and long-term outcomes.

Air pollution and surrounding greenness in relation to ischemic stroke: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence for the association between environmental exposures and ischemic stroke (IS) is limited and inconsistent. We aimed to assess the relationship between exposure to air pollutants, residential surrounding greenness, and incident IS, and to identify population subgroups particularly sensitive to these exposures. METHODS: We used data from administrative health registries of the public healthcare system in Catalonia, Spain to construct a cohort of individuals aged 18 years and older without a previous stroke diagnosis at 1st January 2016 (n = 3 521 274). We collected data on sociodemographic characteristics and cerebrovascular risk factors, and derived exposure at the participant's residence to ambient levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a 300 m buffer as an indicator of greenness. The primary outcome was IS diagnosis at any point during the follow-up. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate associations between environmental exposures and incident IS and stratified analyses to investigate effect modification. RESULTS: Between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2017, 10 865 individuals were admitted to public hospitals with an IS diagnosis. Median exposure levels were: 17 µg/m3 PM2.5, 35 µg/m3 NO2, 2.28 µg/m3 BC and 0.27 NDVI. Individuals with higher residential exposure to air pollution were at greater risk of IS: HR 1·04 (95% CI:0·99-1·10) per 5 µg/m3 of PM2.5; HR 1.05 (95% CI:1·00-1·10) per 1 µg/m3 of BC; HR 1·04 (95% CI:1·03-1·06) per 10 µg/m3 of NO2. Conversely, individuals with higher residential surrounding green space, had lower risk of IS (HR 0·84; CI 95%:0·7-1.0). There was no evidence of effect modification by individual characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Higher incidence of IS was observed in relation to long-term exposures to air pollution, particularly NO2, in a region that meets European health-based air quality standards. Residential surrounding greenness was associated with lower incidence of IS.

Description of stroke mimics after complete neurovascular assessment. / Estudio descriptivo de los stroke mimics después de un estudio neurovascular completo.

INTRODUCTION: A considerable percentage of events initially diagnosed as ischaemic stroke have non-cerebrovascular causes; these are called stroke mimics (SM). Currently available evidence about these events is heterogeneous and comes from studies with small samples. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study is to identify conditions that may present as SM, define their epidemiological and clinical characteristics, and determine the percentage of cases of SM treated with intravenous fibrinolysis. METHODS: Prospective study including all patients admitted to a tertiary university hospital between June 2005 and April 2015 with a diagnosis of acute stroke. We analysed demographic data, cardiovascular risk factors, time from code stroke activation to admission, stroke severity (NIHSS), final destination after discharge, degree of disability (mRS), and treatment. We compared SM and ischaemic strokes. We ruled out patients with intracranial haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, or other causes of SM that may be detected on the baseline CT scan. RESULTS: Four hundred four of the 4,570 included patients (8.8%) were found to have SM. Patients with SM were younger (70.3 vs. 74, P<.0001), less likely to exhibit cardiovascular risk factors and atrial fibrillation (13 vs. 34%, P<.0001), scored lower on the NIHSS at baseline (2 vs. 4, P<.0001), and included fewer cases of aphasia (9.4 vs. 19.6%, P<.02) and dysphagia (1.2 vs. 17%, P<.0001) than patients with stroke. SM caused fewer code stroke activations (28 vs. 40%, P<.0001). Patients with SM required shorter hospital stays (4.9 vs. 7.8 days, P<.0001), were less frequently admitted to the stroke unit (47 vs. 60%, P<.0001) and more frequently discharged home (95 vs. 62%, P<.0001), and had better outcomes (mRS scores 0-2; 76 vs. 54%, P<.0001). Intravenous fibrinolysis was administered to 4.7% of these patients. Epileptic seizures were the most frequent cause of SM (26%). CONCLUSIONS: In our sample, 8.8% of all diagnoses of ischaemic stroke were SM. These events have different demographic, clinical, and prognostic characteristics; epilepsy is the most common aetiology. Despite receiving specialised emergency care, 19 patients with SM (4.7%) were treated with intravenous fibrinolysis.