New cardiovascular events in the convalescent period among survivors of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

BACKGROUND: Patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may have an increased risk of acute cardiovascular events in the convalescent period. AIMS: To determine whether patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection have an increased risk of cardiovascular events during the convalescent period. METHODS: We analyzed 10,691 hospitalized adult pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and contemporary matched controls of pneumonia patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection. The risk of new cardiovascular events following >30 days pneumonia admission (convalescent period) was ascertained using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: Among 10,691 pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 697 patients (5.8%; 95% CI, 5.4-6.2%) developed new cardiovascular events (median time interval of 218 days post pneumonia admission; interquartile range Q1 = 117 days, Q3 = 313 days). The risk of new cardiovascular events was not significantly higher among pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with those with pneumonia without SARS-CoV-2 infection (hazard ratio (HR), 0.90, 95% CI, 0.80-1.02) after adjustment for potential confounders. In addition, no significant difference in the rate of a new ischemic stroke (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.70-1.02) or ischemic heart disease (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.87-1.15) was observed between the pneumonia patients with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that new cardiovascular events rate in the convalescent period among pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection was not significantly higher than the rate seen with other pneumonias.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of endovascular treatment with or without intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: Intravenous (IV) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) may not provide additional benefit in terms of functional outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) who undergo endovascular treatment (EVT). In this context, the cost-effectiveness of EVT alone compared with its application following IV r-tPA has not been evaluated. METHODS: The authors determined the average rates of death or disability in each of the two treatment groups from four randomized clinical trials that enrolled patients with AIS within 4.5 hours of symptom onset and randomly assigned patients to EVT alone and IV r-tPA and EVT. By using three sources derived from previous studies, the authors determined the cost of IV r-tPA, cost of staff time for administration, cost of the EVT, cost of hospital stay, costs of supported discharge and community care, and cost of posthospitalization care and disability. They then assessed the cost-effectiveness of EVT alone using a decision tree for the 1st year after AIS and a Markov model with a 10-year horizon, including probabilistic assessment by Monte Carlo simulations. RESULTS: The 1-year cost was higher with IV r-tPA and EVT compared with EVT alone (incremental cost ranging between $3554 and $13,788 per patient). The mean incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were -$1589, -$78,327, and -$15,471 per quality-adjusted life-year gained for cost sources 1, 2, and 3, respectively, for EVT alone compared with IV r-tPA and EVT at 10 years. The ceiling ICER (willingness to pay) for a probability of 100% that EVT alone was more cost-effective ranged between $25,000 and $100,000 in the three models. CONCLUSIONS: EVT alone appears to be more cost-effective compared with EVT and IV r-tPA for the treatment of AIS patients presenting within 4.5 hours of symptom onset.

Annual Direct Cost of Dysphagia Associated with Acute Ischemic Stroke in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Dysphagia after acute ischemic stroke is frequent and increases the risk of pneumonia, insertion of feeding tube, hospital length-of-stay and rates of discharge to institutional care. However, the financial impact of dysphagia after acute ischemic stroke is not well understood. METHODS: Estimates were derived from published medical and economic literature to provide a range of estimates for the annual direct hospital cost of dysphagia associated with acute ischemic stroke in the United States. We also estimated the cost savings associated with a hypothetical new therapeutic intervention under a variety of assumptions. RESULTS: The 1-year costs per patient of acute hospital and post hospitalization care were $67,100 to $112,400 in acute ischemic stroke patient with dysphagia and $54,0310 to $51,979.8 in acute ischemic stroke patient without dysphagia in the two models. The estimated incremental cost in United States for ischemic stroke patients with dysphagia was $ 4,610,038,961.13 (95% confidence interval [CI] $3,796,502,674-$5,423,575,248) according to assumptions of Model 1. The estimated incremental cost in United States for ischemic stroke patients with dysphagia was $ 20,114,218,586.23 (95% CI $16564650600.42-$23663786572.04) according to assumptions of Model 2. The cost savings per year with a new therapeutic intervention ranged from $509,444,886.6 to $3,601,651,036 depending upon the magnitude of benefit. CONCLUSION: Our analysis provides additional justification using financial basis for a much larger investment in research and development for treatment of dysphagia associated with ischemic stroke.

Intraprocedural Back Pain Associated with Awake Neuroendovascular Procedures.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The prevalence and characteristics of intraprocedural back pain is not well studied in awake patients undergoing neuroendovascular procedures. METHODS: We performed a prospective study as part of quality improvement initiative in which all patients who underwent neuroendovascular procedures in awake state were inquired regarding presence, severity (using a numeric rating scale score ranging from 0 [no pain] to 10 [worst pain possible]), and location (using anatomical chart) of back pain immediately after the procedure. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with moderate to severe pain (score of ≥3). RESULTS: A total of 100 (41.3%) of 242 patients reported intraprocedural back pain with a median severity of 5/10 (range 1-10). The mean age was 58.7 ± 16.2 years. The mean duration of the procedure was 82.3 minutes (range 15-410 minutes). The pain was classified as moderate to severe in 86 of 100 patients. The locations of pain were identified in lumbar (n = 77), thoracic (n = 6), cervical (n = 7), cervical and lumbar (n = 8), and cervical with thoracolumbar (n = 2) regions. There was a significant relationship between patients' history of the previous neck and/or back surgery and frequency of moderate to severe back pain (P = .02). No significant relationship was observed between frequency of none to mild and moderate to severe back pain among the strata by patients' age, body mass index, or duration of procedures. CONCLUSIONS: The relatively high prevalence of intraprocedural back pain in patients undergoing neuroendovascular procedures in awake state must be recognized, and strategies to reduce the occurrence need to be identified.

The Effect of Ticagrelor on Platelet Reactivity in Patients with Clopidogrel Resistance Undergoing Neuroendovascular Procedures.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Suboptimal platelet inhibition by clopidogrel (clopidogrel resistance) may be associated with high rates of stent thrombosis and ischemic events. Our objective was to determine if ticagrelor, a P2Y12 receptor inhibitor, can result in platelet inhibition in patients with clopidogrel resistance. METHODS: A thromboelastography-platelet mapping assay was used in all patients undergoing neuroendovascular procedures requiring oral clopidogrel. In patients with suboptimal platelet inhibition (<60%) on clopidogrel, ticagrelor was imitated after an oral bolus of 180 mg followed by 90 mg twice daily and the platelet mapping assay was repeated. The primary endpoint was hemorrhagic complications classified as major (hemoglobin decrease >5 g/dL or intracranial hemorrhage with deficits), minor (hemoglobin decrease 3-5 g/dL or intracranial hemorrhage without residual deficits), or insignificant. RESULTS: Suboptimal platelet inhibition on clopidogrel was seen in 70 of 106 patients undergoing neuroendovascular procedures. There was a significantly higher magnitude of platelet inhibition with ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel in patients with clopidogrel resistance (mean ± SD: 85.90 ± 10.74% vs. 29.26 ± 17.71%; P < .001); 50 of 70 patients showed optimal inhibition. Two patients had major (fatal) hemorrhagic events (both received either intravenous thrombolytics and/or eptifibatide infusion). Three patients had minor hemorrhagic events, and two patients had insignificant hemorrhagic events. Four of seven hemorrhagic events occurred in patients with optimal response to clopidogrel, two occurred in patients with suboptimal response to ticagrelor, and one occurred in a patient with optimal response to ticagrelor. CONCLUSIONS: Oral ticagrelor can augment platelet inhibition in patients who have clopidogrel resistance.

Drug-Eluting Balloon Angioplasty for In-Stent Restenosis Following Carotid Artery Stent Placement.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Drug-eluting balloons (DEBs) have been proposed as an option for the treatment of in-stent restenosis (ISR) following carotid artery stent placement. We report our experience and review of literature to provide additional data. METHODS: For literature review, PubMed search was conducted to identify studies published between 2005 and 2019, reporting data on management of carotid ISR with DEBs. Two cases with carotid ISR, which were successfully treated with DEB at our facility, were also included in the final compilation of results RESULTS: A total of seven studies demonstrating the use of the DEBs for treatment of carotid ISR were identified. They encompassed 31 patients, 11 (35.5%) of whom presented with symptomatic ISR, with the remaining 20 patients (64.5%) asymptomatic. DEB angioplasty followed by stent placement was performed in 3 patients, whereas DEB alone was utilized in 28 patients. Periprocedural complications included asymptomatic dissection from DEB inflation in 1 patient and transient neurological deficits in another patient. Follow-up period was variable and ranged from 1 month to 5 years. Three patients were noted to develop recurrent asymptomatic stenosis, whereas 1 patient developed an episode of symptomatic restenosis post procedural on follow-up. In our two cases, both patients were noted to have protracted period of hypotension postprocedure without any new or recurrent neurological symptoms. CONCLUSION: The use of DEBs is a promising development and a viable alternative for management of severe and recurrent carotid ISR.

Brainstem reflexes in neuro-Behçet disease.

We hypothesized that brainstem responses may allow detection of functional brainstem changes in patients with neuro-Behçet Disease (NBD). Thus, we recorded electrically-induced blink reflex (eBR), auditory blink reflex (aBR) and electrically-induced masseter inhibitory reflex (eMIR) in 16patients with NBD. However, these neurophysiological tests proved to have a poor overall sensitivity compared to neuroimaging for the diagnosis of brainstem lesions. They also showed low sensitivity for the differential diagnosis of focal pontine lesion versus diffuse brainstem disease in NBD.