Predictors of Incident Stroke and Subsequent Mortality Among a Sample of Veterans with Experience of Housing Instability.

Homelessness is associated with poor health outcomes and early development of cardiovascular disease. This study investigated the correlates of incident stroke and its association with mortality among Veterans experiencing housing instability. Using a national sample of Veterans (n=565,608) with incident housing instability between 2014-2018, we compared characteristics of Veterans who did and did not experience incident stroke and conducted logistic regressions to assess two outcomes: incident stroke and mortality. Almost four percent experienced a first stroke and were more frequently male, older than 55 years, Black, and non-Hispanic. A higher rate of mortality was observed among those with a first stroke compared with those with no stroke (17.6% vs. 10.8%), although the difference was not statistically significant. Incident stroke was associated with triple the odds of death among unstably-housed Veterans compared with those who did not have an incident stroke. Implications include the need to screen and monitor for stroke risk among Veterans with experience of housing instability, particularly for those who are older.

Symptoms at stroke onset as described by patients: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a common and severe disease that requires prompt care. Symptom expressions as one-sided weakness and speech difficulties are common and included in public stroke campaigns. For some patients stroke can present with subtle and less common symptoms, difficult to interpret. The symptom severity assessed by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale has decreased, and symptoms at onset may have changed. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how patients describe their symptoms at the onset of a first-time stroke. METHODS: The study used a qualitative descriptive design and conventional content analysis. Data were collected through recorded interviews with 27 patients aged 18 years and older hospitalised with a first-time stroke between October 2018 and April 2020. Data were analysed on a manifest level. RESULTS: Symptoms at stroke onset were presented in two themes: Altered Reality and Discomfort and Changed Body Functions and described in five categories. Various types of symptoms were found. All symptoms were perceived as sudden, persistent, and never experienced before and this appear as a "red thread" in the result. Regardless of symptom expressions, no specific symptom was described as more severe than another. CONCLUSIONS: Stroke symptoms were described with a variety of expressions. Many described complex symptoms not typical of stroke, which can make it difficult to recognise the symptoms as a stroke and delay medical care. Public stroke campaigns should emphasize the importance of seeking medical care at the slightest suspicion of stroke and could be designed to help achieve this.

ANALYSIS OF RISK FACTORS FOR ISCHEMIC STROKE IN RURAL RESIDENTS OF THE AKTOBE REGION.

Stroke continues to be a major global health concern, accounting for the fifth highest death rate and a sizable portion of the world's disability burden. Over 40,000 stroke cases are reported annually in the Republic of Kazakhstan, of which 5,000 people die within the first 10 days and an additional 5,000 within a month after discharge. Even with the establishment of regional stroke centers, a state anti-stroke program, and substantial efforts, rural communities still experience higher rates of stroke-related morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this research is to examine the complex factors, such as disparities in emergency care and elevated risk factors, that contribute to the variation in the incidence of stroke between rural and urban areas. Rural inhabitants' lesser knowledge of stroke symptoms is a result of educational and socioeconomic differences, which causes systemic delays in care. Just 1% of rural residents live within 60 minutes of a primary stroke center, indicating a lack of access to specialized stroke care. In terms of intravenous thrombolysis performed, urban hospitals perform better than rural ones. The study shows that the mean age of the patients is 62.2±11.9 years, confirming the presence of an average age in the group. Women make up 40.2%, men - 59.8%. An average BMI of 27.6±4.5 may indicate a predominance of excess weight. The NIHSS score decreases from admission (7.64±4.85) to discharge (5.98±6.02), which may indicate a positive effect of treatment. A decrease in MRS reflects improvement in disability after treatment. Analyzing the dependence on place of residence, it was revealed that the largest number of patients came from districts 5 and 10. Analyzing the NIHSS and MRS indicators, statistically significant differences were identified depending on the presence of diabetes, arrhythmia and atherosclerosis. The rate of stroke severity and disability on admission is significantly higher in patients who die. A model for predicting unfavorable outcome was developed, which showed the statistical significance of the factors of cardiac arrhythmia and NLR.

Long-term effectiveness and safety of edoxaban in patients with atrial fibrillation: 4-year data from the ETNA-AF-Europe study.

BACKGROUND: To assess long-term effectiveness and safety of edoxaban in Europe. METHODS AND RESULTS: ETNA-AF-Europe, a prospective, multinational, multi-centre, post-authorisation, observational study was conducted in agreement with the European Medicines Agency. The primary and secondary objectives assessed real-world safety (including bleeding and deaths) and effectiveness (including stroke, systemic embolic events and clinical edoxaban use), respectively. Median (interquartile range) age of the 13,164 patients was 75.0 (68.0-80.0) years; CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were 3.0 (2.0-4.0) and 2.0 (1.0-2.0), respectively. Follow-up duration was 3.98 (3.21-4.05) years. Patients on edoxaban 30 mg (n = 3042) at baseline were older (80.0 vs 73.0 years), more likely assessed as frail by investigators (27.0% vs 6.6%) and had more comorbidities than those on edoxaban 60 mg (n = 9617; missing dosing information for n = 505). Annualised event rates of all-cause and cardiovascular death in the overall population, edoxaban 60 mg and edoxaban 30 mg groups were 4.1%, 2.8% and 8.4%, and 1.0%, 0.7% and 2.0%, respectively. Annualised rates of stroke were relatively constant throughout the follow-up, transient ischaemic attack and systemic embolism were < 1% in the overall population. Rates of any major and major gastrointestinal bleeding were low, with slightly higher rates for edoxaban 30 vs 60 mg group. Intracranial haemorrhage was uncommon (0.2%). CONCLUSIONS: In European patients with AF, long-term therapy with edoxaban is associated with low and relatively constant annualised rates of stroke and major bleeding. Differences in outcomes between the two approved doses are attributable to differences in clinical characteristics.

Prevalence and influencing factors of patient delay in stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Determine the prevalence and influencing factors of patient delay in stroke patients and explore variation in prevalence by country and delayed time. METHODS: PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), Weipu database, and Wanfang database were comprehensively searched for observational studies from inception to April, 2023. The pooled prevalence, odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated with Stata 16.0 software. RESULTS: In total, 2721 articles were screened and data from 70 studies involving 85,468 subjects were used in meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of patient delay in stroke patients was 59% (95% CI, 0.54-0.64). The estimates of pooled prevalence calculated for African, Asian, and European patient delay in stroke patients were 55% (0.29-0.81), 61% (0.56-0.66), and 49% (0.34-0.64).According to the patient delay time, the prevalence of 6 h, 5 h, 4.5 h, 3.5 h, 3 h and 2 h were 54% (0.47-0.61), 73% (0.61-0.86), 60% (0.49-0.71), 81% (0.68-0.93), 52% (0.42-0.62), 63% (0.19-1.07). Distance from the place of onset to the hospital > 10 km [OR=2.49, 95%CI (1.92, 3.24)], having medical insurance [OR = 0.45, 95%CI (0.26,0.80)], lack of stroke-related knowledge [OR = 1.56, 95%CI (1.08,2.26)], education level below junior high school [OR = 1.69, 95%CI (1.22,2.36)], non-emergency medical services (Non-EMS) [OR = 2.10, 95%CI (1.49,2.97)], living in rural areas [OR = 1.54, 95%CI (1.15,2.07)], disturbance of consciousness [OR = 0.60, 95%CI (0.39,0.93)], history of atrial fibrillation [OR = 0.53, 95%CI (0.47,0.59)], age ≥ 65 years [OR = 1.18, 95%CI (1.02,1.37)], National institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS) ≤ 4 points [OR= 2.26, 95%CI (1.06,4.79)]were factors for patient delay in stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of patient delay in stroke patients is high, we should pay attention to the influencing factors of patient delay in stroke patients and provide a theoretical basis for shortening the treatment time of stroke patients.

Stroke risk after transcatheter aortic valve replacement in patients with carotid stenosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a feared complication of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Patients undergoing TAVR typically have multiple comorbidities, such as carotid artery stenosis (CAS). We conducted the present meta-analysis to determine the risk of stroke and mortality following TAVR in patients with CAS. METHODS: We searched PubMed/Medline, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Clinical Trials databases for clinical studies that compared CAS ≥50% and CAS ≥70% versus non-CAS TAVR population. The endpoints included the 30-day incidence of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and 30-day all-cause of mortality. RESULTS: We identified seven studies that included 12,418 patients in the CAS group and 102,316 in the control group. CAS ≥50% was not associated with an increased risk of 30-day stroke or TIA after TAVR [risk ratio (RR): 1.38; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.95-2.02; p = 0.09]. However, patients with CAS ≥70% had an increased risk of stroke or TIA (RR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.02-2.01; p = 0.04). No difference in 30-day all-cause mortality was observed between CAS ≥50% or CAS ≥70% and control groups (RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.79-1.52; p = 0.59 and RR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.85-1.45; p = 0.43, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: CAS ≥70% was associated with an increased risk of stroke or TIA following TAVR compared with patients without CAS.

Incidence of stroke, subsequent clinical outcomes and health care resource utilization in people with type 2 diabetes: a real-world database study in France: "INSIST" study.

BACKGROUND: People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) including stroke, yet existing real-world evidence (RWE) on the clinical and economic burden of stroke in this population is limited. The aim of this cohort study was to evaluate the clinical and economic burden of stroke among people with T2D in France. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective RWE study using data from the nationally representative subset of the French Système National des Données de Santé (SNDS) database. We assessed the incidence of stroke requiring hospitalization between 2012 and 2018 among T2D patients. Subsequent clinical outcomes including CVD, stroke recurrence, and mortality were estimated overall and according to stroke subtype (ischemic versus hemorrhagic). We also examined the treatment patterns for glucose-lowering agents and CVD agents, health care resource utilization and medical costs. RESULTS: Among 45,331 people with T2D without baseline history of stroke, 2090 (4.6%) had an incident stroke requiring hospitalization. The incidence of ischemic stroke per 1000 person-years was 4.9-times higher than hemorrhagic stroke (6.80 [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.47-7.15] versus 1.38 [1.24-1.54]). During a median follow-up of 2.4 years (interquartile range 0.6; 4.4) from date of index stroke, the rate of CVD, stroke recurrence and mortality per 1000 person-years was higher among hemorrhagic stroke patients than ischemic stroke patients (CVD 130.9 [107.7-159.0] versus 126.4 [117.2-136.4]; stroke recurrence: 86.7 [66.4-113.4] versus 66.5 [59.2-74.6]; mortality 291.5 [259.1-327.9] versus 144.1 [134.3-154.6]). These differences were not statistically significant, except for mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.95 [95% CI 1.66-2.92]). The proportion of patients prescribed glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists increased from 4.2% at baseline to 6.6% during follow-up. The proportion of patients prescribed antihypertensives and statins only increased slightly following incident stroke (antihypertensives: 70.9% pre-stroke versus 76.7% post-stroke; statins: 24.1% pre-stroke versus 30.0% post-stroke). Overall, 68.8% of patients had a subsequent hospitalization. Median total medical costs were €12,199 (6846; 22,378). CONCLUSIONS: The high burden of stroke among people with T2D, along with the low proportion of patients receiving recommended treatments as per clinical guidelines, necessitates a strengthened and multidisciplinary approach to the CVD prevention and management in people with T2D.

Serum Albumin and Post-Stroke Outcomes: Analysis of UK Regional Registry Data, Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis.

Hypoalbuminemia associates with poor acute ischemic stroke (AIS) outcomes. We hypothesised a non-linear relationship and aimed to systematically assess this association using prospective stroke data from the Norfolk and Norwich Stroke and TIA Register. Consecutive AIS patients aged ≥40 years admitted December 2003-December 2016 were included. Outcomes: In-hospital mortality, poor discharge, functional outcome (modified Rankin score 3-6), prolonged length of stay (PLoS) > 4 days, and long-term mortality. Restricted cubic spline regressions investigated the albumin-outcome relationship. We updated a systematic review (PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases, January 2020-June 2023) and undertook a meta-analysis. A total of 9979 patients were included; mean age (standard deviation) = 78.3 (11.2) years; mean serum albumin 36.69 g/L (5.38). Compared to the cohort median, albumin < 37 g/L associated with up to two-fold higher long-term mortality (HRmax; 95% CI = 2.01; 1.61-2.49) and in-hospital mortality (RRmax; 95% CI = 1.48; 1.21-1.80). Albumin > 44 g/L associated with up to 12% higher long-term mortality (HRmax1.12; 1.06-1.19). Nine studies met our inclusion criteria totalling 23,597 patients. Low albumin associated with increased risk of long-term mortality (two studies; relative risk 1.57 (95% CI 1.11-2.22; I2 = 81.28)), as did low-normal albumin (RR 1.10 (95% CI 1.01-1.20; I2 = 0.00)). Strong evidence indicates increased long-term mortality in AIS patients with low or low-normal albumin on admission.

Assessing risk of stroke after idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss using data from general practice.

The cause of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) remains unknown in a significant number of cases, but vascular involvement in its pathophysiology has been proposed. Our study aimed to assess the incidence of stroke following idiopathic SSNHL (iSSNHL) and to evaluate associated cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities. We extracted electronic medical record data from iSSNHL patients aged ≥ 50 years retrospectively from 84 general practices. Patients were matched for age, sex and general practice in a 1:4 ratio to controls. Primary outcome was the 5-years stroke risk following iSSNHL diagnosis. 480 iSSNHL cases could be matched to 1911 controls. The hazard ratio for iSSNHL compared with controls was 1.25 (95%CI 0.50-3.27; P = 0.646) for CVA (cerebrovascular accident) alone and 0.92 (95% CI 0.50-1.71; P = 0.804) for CVA and TIA (transient ischemic attack) combined. The hazard ratio for the interaction term between iSSNHL and age ≥ 60 years was 4.84 (95% CI 1.02-23.05; P = 0.048) for CVA and TIA combined. Patients with iSSNHL used antihypertensives and beta-blocking agents more frequently than controls (P = 0.006 and P = 0.022, respectively). In conclusion, no overall significant difference in the risk of stroke was observed, but the hazard ratio for stroke increased in iSSNHL patients aged 60 and older, suggesting potential vascular involvement in older subjects presenting with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Cumulative Systolic Blood Pressure and Incident Stroke Type Variation by Race and Ethnicity.

Importance: Stroke risk varies by systolic blood pressure (SBP), race, and ethnicity. The association between cumulative mean SBP and incident stroke type is unclear, and whether this association differs by race and ethnicity remains unknown. Objective: To examine the association between cumulative mean SBP and first incident stroke among 3 major stroke types-ischemic stroke (IS), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-and explore how these associations vary by race and ethnicity. Design, Setting, and Participants: Individual participant data from 6 US longitudinal cohorts (January 1, 1971, to December 31, 2019) were pooled. The analysis was performed from January 1, 2022, to January 2, 2024. The median follow-up was 21.6 (IQR, 13.6-31.8) years. Exposure: Time-dependent cumulative mean SBP. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was time from baseline visit to first incident stroke. Secondary outcomes consisted of time to first incident IS, ICH, and SAH. Results: Among 40 016 participants, 38 167 who were 18 years or older at baseline with no history of stroke and at least 1 SBP measurement before the first incident stroke were included in the analysis. Of these, 54.0% were women; 25.0% were Black, 8.9% were Hispanic of any race, and 66.2% were White. The mean (SD) age at baseline was 53.4 (17.0) years and the mean (SD) SBP at baseline was 136.9 (20.4) mm Hg. A 10-mm Hg higher cumulative mean SBP was associated with a higher risk of overall stroke (hazard ratio [HR], 1.20 [95% CI, 1.18-1.23]), IS (HR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.17-1.22]), and ICH (HR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.25-1.38]) but not SAH (HR, 1.13 [95% CI, 0.99-1.29]; P = .06). Compared with White participants, Black participants had a higher risk of IS (HR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.09-1.33]) and ICH (HR, 1.67 [95% CI, 1.30-2.13]) and Hispanic participants of any race had a higher risk of SAH (HR, 3.81 [95% CI, 1.29-11.22]). There was no consistent evidence that race and ethnicity modified the association of cumulative mean SBP with first incident stroke and stroke type. Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this cohort study suggest that cumulative mean SBP was associated with incident stroke type, but the associations did not differ by race and ethnicity. Culturally informed stroke prevention programs should address modifiable risk factors such as SBP along with social determinants of health and structural inequities in society.

Association between the triglyceride-glucose index and in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome: results from the Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China (CCC)-Acute Coronary Syndrome project.

OBJECTIVE: Although the TyG index is a reliable predictor of insulin resistance (IR) and cardiovascular disease, its effectiveness in predicting major adverse cardiac events in hospitalized acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients has not been validated in large-scale studies. In this study, we aimed to explore the association between the TyG index and the occurrence of MACEs during hospitalization. METHODS: We recruited ACS patients from the CCC-ACS (Improving Cardiovascular Care in China-ACS) database and calculated the TyG index using the formula ln(fasting triglyceride [mg/dL] × fasting glucose [mg/dL]/2). These patients were classified into four groups based on quartiles of the TyG index. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of MACEs during hospitalization, encompassing all-cause mortality, cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. We performed Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to clarify the correlation between the TyG index and the risk of in-hospital MACEs among patients diagnosed with ACS. Additionally, we explored this relationship across various subgroups. RESULTS: A total of 101,113 patients were ultimately included, and 2759 in-hospital MACEs were recorded, with 1554 (49.1%) cases of all-cause mortality, 601 (21.8%) cases of cardiac arrest, 251 (9.1%) cases of MI, and 353 (12.8%) cases of stroke. After adjusting for confounders, patients in TyG index quartile groups 3 and 4 showed increased risks of in-hospital MACEs compared to those in quartile group 1 [HR = 1.253, 95% CI 1.121-1.400 and HR = 1.604, 95% CI 1.437-1.791, respectively; p value for trend < 0.001], especially in patients with STEMI or renal insufficiency. Moreover, we found interactions between the TyG index and age, sex, diabetes status, renal insufficiency status, and previous PCI (all p values for interactions < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ACS, the TyG index was an independent predictor of in-hospital MACEs. Special vigilance should be exercised in females, elderly individuals, and patients with renal insufficiency.

Mental-somatic multimorbidity in trajectories of cognitive function for middle-aged and older adults.

INTRODUCTION: Multimorbidity may confer higher risk for cognitive decline than any single constituent disease. This study aims to identify distinct trajectories of cognitive impairment probability among middle-aged and older adults, and to assess the effect of changes in mental-somatic multimorbidity on these distinct trajectories. METHODS: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2016) were employed to estimate group-based trajectory models identifying distinct trajectories of cognitive impairment probability. Four time-varying mental-somatic multimorbidity combinations (somatic, stroke, depressive, stroke and depressive) were examined for their association with observed trajectories of cognitive impairment probability with age. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to quantify the association of sociodemographic and health-related factors with trajectory group membership. RESULTS: Respondents (N = 20,070) had a mean age of 61.0 years (SD = 8.7) at baseline. Three distinct cognitive trajectories were identified using group-based trajectory modelling: (1) Low risk with late-life increase (62.6%), (2) Low initial risk with rapid increase (25.7%), and (3) High risk (11.7%). For adults following along Low risk with late-life increase, the odds of cognitive impairment for stroke and depressive multimorbidity (OR:3.92, 95%CI:2.91,5.28) were nearly two times higher than either stroke multimorbidity (OR:2.06, 95%CI:1.75,2.43) or depressive multimorbidity (OR:2.03, 95%CI:1.71,2.41). The odds of cognitive impairment for stroke and depressive multimorbidity in Low initial risk with rapid increase or High risk (OR:4.31, 95%CI:3.50,5.31; OR:3.43, 95%CI:2.07,5.66, respectively) were moderately higher than stroke multimorbidity (OR:2.71, 95%CI:2.35, 3.13; OR: 3.23, 95%CI:2.16, 4.81, respectively). In the multinomial logistic regression model, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic respondents had higher odds of being in Low initial risk with rapid increase and High risk relative to non-Hispanic White adults. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that depressive and stroke multimorbidity combinations have the greatest association with rapid cognitive declines and their prevention may postpone these declines, especially in socially disadvantaged and minoritized groups.

Long-term cardiovascular disease outcomes in non-hospitalized medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with COVID-19: Population-based matched cohort study.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can affect multiple human organs structurally and functionally, including the cardiovascular system and brain. Many studies focused on the acute effects of COVID-19 on risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke especially among hospitalized patients with limited follow-up time. This study examined long-term mortality, hospitalization, CVD and stroke outcomes after non-hospitalized COVID-19 among Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries in the United States. METHODS: This retrospective matched cohort study included 944,371 FFS beneficiaries aged ≥66 years diagnosed with non-hospitalized COVID-19 from April 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, and followed-up to May 31, 2022, and 944,371 propensity score matched FFS beneficiaries without COVID-19. Primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, hospitalization, and incidence of 15 CVD and stroke. Because most outcomes violated the proportional hazards assumption, we used restricted cubic splines to model non-proportional hazards in Cox models and presented time-varying hazard ratios (HRs) and Bonferroni corrected 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: The mean age was 75.3 years; 58.0% women and 82.6% non-Hispanic White. The median follow-up was 18.5 months (interquartile range 16.5 to 20.5). COVID-19 showed initial stronger effects on all-cause mortality, hospitalization and 12 incident CVD outcomes with adjusted HRs in 0-3 months ranging from 1.05 (95% CI 1.01-1.09) for mortality to 2.55 (2.26-2.87) for pulmonary embolism. The effects of COVID-19 on outcomes reduced significantly after 3-month follow-up. Risk of mortality, acute myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism returned to baseline after 6-month follow-up. Patterns of initial stronger effects of COVID-19 were largely consistent across age groups, sex, and race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed a consistent time-varying effects of COVID-19 on mortality, hospitalization, and incident CVD among non-hospitalized COVID-19 survivors.

Prevalence of Stroke - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United States, 2011-2022.

Stroke was the fifth leading cause of death in the United States in 2021, and cost U.S. residents approximately $56.2 billion during 2019-2020. During 2006-2010, self-reported stroke prevalence among noninstitutionalized adults had a relative decrease of 3.7%. Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used to analyze age-standardized stroke prevalence during 2011-2022 among adults aged ≥18 years. From 2011-2013 to 2020-2022, overall self-reported stroke prevalence increased by 7.8% nationwide. Increases occurred among adults aged 18-64 years; females and males; non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black), non-Hispanic White (White), and Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) persons; and adults with less than a college degree. Stroke prevalence was higher among adults aged ≥65 years than among younger adults; among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and Black adults than among White adults; and among adults with less than a high school education than among those with higher levels of education. Stroke prevalence decreased in the District of Columbia and increased in 10 states. Initiatives to promote knowledge of the signs and symptoms of stroke, and the identification of disparities in stroke prevalence, might help to focus clinical and programmatic interventions, such as the Million Hearts 2027 initiative or the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program, to improve prevention and treatment of stroke.

Risk Factors for Stroke in Children with Tuberculous Meningitis: A Prospective Observational Study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to establish the prevalence of stroke as well as the clinical and radiological correlates of stroke in children with tuberculous meningitis (TBM). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A prospective observational study was conducted at the Pediatric Department, King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. Using a computed tomography (CT) scan/brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), patients were divided into stroke and non-stroke groups. Demographic characteristics, clinical presentations, cerebrospinal fluid examination, basal meningeal enhancement, hydrocephalus, tuberculoma, and clinical outcome were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Seventy-eight TBM patients, aged between 6 months and 14 years, were included. Out of 78 enrolled patients, 3 (3.8%) had definite TBM, 73 (91%) had probable TBM, and 4 (5.1%) had possible TBM (LCS). As per the Medical Research Council (MRC) staging, 13% had Stage 1 TBM, 26% had stage 2, and 61% had stage 3 TBM. Out of 78 patients with chest X-ray findings, 42 (53%) had findings suggestive of tuberculosis (TB), which included 33 (42%) with hilar lymphadenopathy and 9 (11%) with a miliary pattern. On neuroimaging, hydrocephalous was seen in 62.8% of cases, basal meningeal enhancement in 64.1%, tuberculoma in 6.4% of cases, and infarction in 53.8% of cases. There was no statistically significant association found between the staging of TBM and the presence of infarction as the majority of cases involved were in stage 3 of the disease (61.5%). TBM patients with stroke had poor clinical outcomes. CONCLUSION: Age, altered sensorium, focal neurological deficits, vomiting, and basal meningeal enhancement can predict the occurrence of stroke in young adults with TBM.

Prediction of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in comparison with other stroke types using routine care data.

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) can be prevented by early detection and treatment of intracranial aneurysms in high-risk individuals. We investigated whether individuals at high risk of aSAH in the general population can be identified by developing an aSAH prediction model with electronic health records (EHR) data. To assess the aSAH model's relative performance, we additionally developed prediction models for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and compared the discriminative performance of the models. We included individuals aged ≥35 years without history of stroke from a Dutch routine care database (years 2007-2020) and defined outcomes aSAH, AIS and ICH using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes. Potential predictors included sociodemographic data, diagnoses, medications, and blood measurements. We cross-validated a Cox proportional hazards model with an elastic net penalty on derivation cohorts and reported the c-statistic and 10-year calibration on validation cohorts. We examined 1,040,855 individuals (mean age 54.6 years, 50.9% women) for a total of 10,173,170 person-years (median 11 years). 17,465 stroke events occurred during follow-up: 723 aSAH, 14,659 AIS, and 2,083 ICH. The aSAH model's c-statistic was 0.61 (95%CI 0.57-0.65), which was lower than the c-statistic of the AIS (0.77, 95%CI 0.77-0.78) and ICH models (0.77, 95%CI 0.75-0.78). All models were well-calibrated. The aSAH model identified 19 predictors, of which the 10 strongest included age, female sex, population density, socioeconomic status, oral contraceptive use, gastroenterological complaints, obstructive airway medication, epilepsy, childbirth complications, and smoking. Discriminative performance of the aSAH prediction model was moderate, while it was good for the AIS and ICH models. We conclude that it is currently not feasible to accurately identify individuals at increased risk for aSAH using EHR data.

Changes in patient profiles in the cardiology department of the University Hospital Gabriel Touré (UH-GT) : results of two cross-sectional studies of 2010 and 2022.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about patient profile changes in medical facilities in our country, leading to this study to describe and compare patient profiles in 2010 and 2022. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with new outpatients aged 15 years and more seen in the cardiology department of the UH-GT. Measurements included height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were recorded. Quantitative data are presented as the mean with standard deviation, and categorical one as proportions. Statistical tests were the t test to compare means and chi-test for categorical variables. The level of significance was set to 0.05. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 515 new patients (199 in 2010 and 316 in 2022) with 59.1% female in 2010 and 60.1% in 2022 (p = 0.821). We noticed an increase in hypertension (59.1-71.8%, p = 0.003) and a decrease in tobacco smoking (from 13 to 05.4%, p = 0.002) and stroke (from 05.8 to 02.2%, p = 0.033). Height increased significantly from 1.59 m to 1.66 m, p = 0.002. SBP and DBP showed significant decreases in their means from 155.43 to 144.97 mmHg, p = < 0.001 for SBP and from 95.53 to 89.02 mmHg, p = < 0.001 for DBP. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular risk factors showed different trends with decreasing tobacco smoking, similar to systolic and diastolic blood pressure, albeit with an increase in hypertension prevalence. Other CVrf values increased. Awareness campaigns must be reinforced and maintained to obtain their decrease.

Genetic Complexities of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease, Blood Pressure, and Dementia.

Importance: Vascular disease is a treatable contributor to dementia risk, but the role of specific markers remains unclear, making prevention strategies uncertain. Objective: To investigate the causal association between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden, clinical stroke, blood pressure (BP), and dementia risk, while accounting for potential epidemiologic biases. Design, Setting, and Participants: This study first examined the association of genetically determined WMH burden, stroke, and BP levels with Alzheimer disease (AD) in a 2-sample mendelian randomization (2SMR) framework. Second, using population-based studies (1979-2018) with prospective dementia surveillance, the genetic association of WMH, stroke, and BP with incident all-cause dementia was examined. Data analysis was performed from July 26, 2020, through July 24, 2022. Exposures: Genetically determined WMH burden and BP levels, as well as genetic liability to stroke derived from genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in European ancestry populations. Main Outcomes and Measures: The association of genetic instruments for WMH, stroke, and BP with dementia was studied using GWASs of AD (defined clinically and additionally meta-analyzed including both clinically diagnosed AD and AD defined based on parental history [AD-meta]) for 2SMR and incident all-cause dementia for longitudinal analyses. Results: In 2SMR (summary statistics-based) analyses using AD GWASs with up to 75 024 AD cases (mean [SD] age at AD onset, 75.5 [4.4] years; 56.9% women), larger WMH burden showed evidence for a causal association with increased risk of AD (odds ratio [OR], 1.43; 95% CI, 1.10-1.86; P = .007, per unit increase in WMH risk alleles) and AD-meta (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06-1.34; P = .008), after accounting for pulse pressure for the former. Blood pressure traits showed evidence for a protective association with AD, with evidence for confounding by shared genetic instruments. In the longitudinal (individual-level data) analyses involving 10 699 incident all-cause dementia cases (mean [SD] age at dementia diagnosis, 74.4 [9.1] years; 55.4% women), no significant association was observed between larger WMH burden and incident all-cause dementia (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00-1.04; P = .07). Although all exposures were associated with mortality, with the strongest association observed for systolic BP (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.03-1.06; P = 1.9 × 10-14), there was no evidence for selective survival bias during follow-up using illness-death models. In secondary analyses using polygenic scores, the association of genetic liability to stroke, but not genetically determined WMH, with dementia outcomes was attenuated after adjusting for interim stroke. Conclusions: These findings suggest that WMH is a primary vascular factor associated with dementia risk, emphasizing its significance in preventive strategies for dementia. Future studies are warranted to examine whether this finding can be generalized to non-European populations.