Do Women With Atrial Fibrillation Experience More Severe Strokes? Results From the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ischemic strokes associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) are more severe than those of other cause. We aim to study potential sex effects in this context. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 74 425 adults with acute ischemic stroke from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry were included between March 2003 and January 2016. In 63 563 patients, data on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale on admission to the stroke unit, presence of AF, vascular risk factors, and comorbidities were complete. Analysis was done by a multivariate regression model. RESULTS: Stroke severity in general increased with age. AF-related strokes were more severe than strokes of other causes. Sex-related differences in stroke severity were only seen in stroke patients with AF. Median (Q25,75) National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score points were 9 (4,17) in women and 6 (3,13) in men (P<0.001). The interaction between AF and sex on stroke severity was independent of age, previous functional status, vascular risk factors, and vascular comorbidities and remained significant in various subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Women with AF do not only have an increased risk of stroke when compared with men but also experience more severe strokes.

Post-stroke pneumonia at the stroke unit - a registry based analysis of contributing and protective factors.

BACKGROUND: To investigate prevalence and risk factors for post stroke pneumonia (PSP) in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated at stroke units (SU). METHOD: We analysed data from the Austrian Stroke Unit registry concerning admissions from January 2003 to December 2013 and assessed the prevalence of PSP at the stroke unit. Patients with and without PSP were compared in univariate and multivariate models searching for factors associated with the occurrence of PSP at the SU. RESULTS: Three thousand one hundred eleven patients (5.2%) of 59,558 analysed patients were diagnosed with PSP. While age and stroke severity were non-modifiable factors associated with PSP, modifiable risk factors included chronic alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation. Patients who developed neurological, cardiac, and other infective complications showed a higher prevalence of PSP, an increased prevalence was also found in connection with the placement of nasogastric tubes or urinary catheters. Female sex, left hemispheric stroke, cryptogenic stroke pathogenesis and additionally, treatment with lipid lowering drugs were factors associated with a lower PSP prevalence. CONCLUSION: Pneumonia in acute ischemic stroke is associated with a variety of modifiable and unmodifiable factors that allow to identify patients at high risk of developing PSP and to focus on early preventive measures at the SU. Further studies could use the results of this study to explore potential benefits of specific interventions targeted at these factors.

Multidomain Lifestyle Interventions for the Prevention of Cognitive Decline After Ischemic Stroke: Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cognitive impairment occurs in ≤30% of all stroke survivors. However, effective therapies aimed at preventing poststroke cognitive decline are lacking. We assessed the efficacy of a multidomain intervention on preventing cognitive decline after stroke. METHODS: In this randomized, observer-blind trial patients were recruited within 3 months after an acute stroke in 5 Austrian neurological centers. Patients were assigned to a 24-month lifestyle-based multidomain intervention or standard stroke care. Primary outcomes were the cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog) and occurrence of cognitive decline in the composite scores of at least 2 of 5 cognitive domains at 24 months. RESULTS: A total of 101 patients were randomized into multi-intervention and 101 into standard care during June 2010 and November 2012. Of them, 76 patients in the intervention group and 83 in the control group were included in the final intention-to-treat analysis. At 24 months, 8 of 76 (10.5%) patients in the intervention group and 10 of 83 (12.0%) patients in the control group showed cognitive decline corresponding to a relative risk reduction of 0.874 (95% confidence interval, 0.364-2.098). The change in ADAS-cog from baseline to 24 months was not different either (median 0 [IQR, -1 to 2] in both groups; P=0.808). CONCLUSIONS: This trial found no benefit of 24-month multidomain intervention with focus on improvement in lifestyle and vascular risk factors on the incidence of poststroke cognitive decline in comparison with standard stroke care. Studies with a larger sample size are needed. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01109836.

Thrombolysis in patients with mild stroke: results from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Apart from missing the approved time window of 4.5 hours, one frequent cause for withholding recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) treatment in patients with ischemic stroke is presentation with mild deficit on admission. We analyzed in a large cohort of patients whether rt-PA treatment is beneficial for this group of patients. METHODS: From a total of 54 917 patients with ischemic stroke prospectively enrolled in the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry, 890 patients with mild deficit defined as ≤5 points in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale treated with and without rt-PA were matched for age, sex, prestroke disability, stroke severity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, stroke cause, and clinical stroke syndrome. Functional outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale at 3 months. For data visualization, weighted averages of outcome differences were computed for all age severity combinations and mapped to a color. For quantification of effect sizes, numbers need to treat were calculated. RESULTS: rt-PA-treated patients with mild deficit had a better outcome after 3 months compared with matched cases without rt-PA treatment (odds ratio [OR], 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-1.89; P<0.001). In rt-PA-treated patients with mild deficit, the numbers need to treat ranged from 8 to 14. Improvement achieved by rt-PA treatment was observed along the entire age range. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, intravenous rt-PA treatment was beneficial for patients with mild deficit. Given the observational nature of these results, our data might serve as an incentive for future randomized controlled trials to provide a basis for optimal patient selection.

Sex-related differences of acute stroke unit care: results from the Austrian stroke unit registry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sex-related differences in quality of acute stroke care are an important concern with limited data available, specifically regarding stroke unit (SU) setting. We used the prospective nationwide Austrian SU registry to address this issue. METHODS: Our analysis covered an 8-year time period (January 2005 to December 2012) during which all patients with transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke admitted to 1 of 35 Austrian SU had been captured in the registry. These data were analyzed for age-adjusted preclinical and clinical characteristics and quality of acute stroke care in men and women. In addition, we assessed the outcome at 3 months in multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 47 209 individuals (47% women) had received SU care. Women were significantly older (median age: 77.9 versus 70.3 years), had higher pre-existing disability and more severe strokes. Correcting for age, no significant sex-related differences in quality of care were identified with comparable onset-to-door times, times to and rates of neuroimaging, as well as door-to-needle times and rates of intravenous thrombolysis (14.5% for both sexes). Despite equal acute stroke care and a comparable rate of neurorehabilitation, women had a worse functional outcome at 3-month follow-up (modified Rankin scale 3-5: odds ratio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval [1.17-1.36]), but a lower mortality (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [0.78-0.88]) after correcting for confounders. CONCLUSIONS: We identified no disproportions in quality of care in the acute SU setting between men and women, but the outcome was significantly different. Further studies on the poststroke period including socioeconomic aspects are needed to clarify this finding.

Myocardial infarction as a complication in acute stroke: results from the austrian stroke unit registry.

BACKGROUND: Patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke have an increased risk for subsequent cardiac events including myocardial infarction (MI), which might be associated with a worse clinical outcome. Rapid identification of stroke patients at higher risk for MI might foster intensified cardiac monitoring or certain therapeutic strategies. However, information regarding acute MI as a complication of stroke in the very acute phase is limited. Moreover, there are no systematic data on the occurrence of MI following intracerebral hematoma. We thus aimed to assess the frequency, clinical characteristics and short-term outcome of patients suffering from acute MI in the stroke unit setting. METHODS: We analyzed 46,603 patients from 32 Austrian stroke units enrolled in the prospective Austrian Stroke Unit Registry because of TIA/acute stroke over a 6-year period (January 1, 2007 to January 13, 2013). A total of 41,619 patients (89.3%) had been treated for TIA/ischemic stroke and 4,984 (10.7%) for primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Acute MI was defined according to clinical evaluation, ECG findings and laboratory assessments. Patients with evidence for MI preceding the cerebrovascular event were not considered. RESULTS: Overall, 421 patients (1%) with TIA/ischemic stroke and 17 patients (0.3%) with ICH suffered from MI during stroke unit treatment for a median duration of 3 days. Patients with TIA/ischemic stroke and MI were significantly older, clinically more severely affected and had more frequently vascular risk factors, atrial fibrillation and previous MI. Total anterior circulation and left hemispheric stroke syndromes were more often observed in MI patients. Patients with MI not only suffered from worse short-term outcome including a higher mortality (14.5 vs. 2%; p < 0.001) at stroke unit discharge, but also acquired more stroke complications like progressive stroke and pneumonia. Multivariate analyses identified previous MI and stroke severity at admission (according to the National Institutes of Health and Stroke Scale score) as factors independently associated with the occurrence of MI on the stroke unit. CONCLUSIONS: While quite rare in the acute phase after stroke, MI is associated with a poor short-term outcome including a higher mortality. Patients with previous MI and severe stroke syndromes appear to be at particular risk for MI as an early complication in the stroke unit setting. Further studies are needed to determine whether increased vigilance and prolonged (cardiac) monitoring or certain therapeutic approaches could improve the outcome in these high-risk patients.

Time trends in patient characteristics treated on acute stroke-units: results from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry 2003-2011.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Demographic changes, increased awareness of vascular risk factors, better diagnostic, progress in medical care, and increasing primary stroke prevention influence the profile of patients admitted to stroke-units. Changes in patient population and stroke type have important consequences on outcome and management at stroke-units. METHODS: Data from the national database of the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry were analyzed for time-trends in demography, risk factors, cause, and stroke severity. RESULTS: Data of 48 038 ischemic and 5088 hemorrhagic strokes were analyzed. Between 2003 and 2011, median age increased significantly for ischemic strokes from 68 to 71 years in men and from 76 to 78 years in women, respectively. Ischemic stroke patients showed significantly increased rates of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and atrial fibrillation. In hemorrhagic strokes an increase for hypercholesterolemia and cardiac diseases other than atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction were only found in men. A small but significant decrease in stroke severity was found for ischemic strokes from 4 to 3 points on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale in men and from 5 to 4 in women, and for hemorrhagic strokes from 9 to 6 points in men and from 9 to 7 in women. Cardioembolic strokes increased slightly, whereas macroangiopathy decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Significant time trends were seen for characteristics of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke patients admitted to acute stroke-units in Austria. These include trends for older age and toward milder strokes with more cardioembolic causes. This signals a need for increased resources for managing multimorbidity and enabling early mobilization.

Helicopter transport of stroke patients and its influence on thrombolysis rates: data from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Acute stroke management requires minimization of prehospital time. This study addresses the value of helicopter transport compared with other means of transportation to a stroke unit and compares their rates of thrombolysis on a nationwide basis. METHODS: Prospective data collection and prespecified evaluation of data from 32 stroke units between 2003 and 2009 were used. We distinguished between patients transported either directly to a stroke unit or transferred indirectly via a peripheral hospital. Thus, there were 6 transport groups: helicopter emergency service (HEMS) direct and indirect, ambulance accompanied by an emergency physician direct and indirect, and ambulance without physician direct and indirect. Demographic and clinical factors, time delays, and rates of thrombolysis of patients transported by helicopter were compared with factors of patients transported otherwise. RESULTS: Of 21 712 ischemic stroke patients, 905 patients (4.1%) were transported by helicopter. Of these, 752 patients (3.4%) were transported by direct HEMS, and 153 patients (0.7%) were transported by indirect HEMS. Thrombolysis rates were highest for HEMS (24% direct, 29% indirect) transport, followed by ambulance accompanied by an emergency physician (18% direct, 15% indirect). The probability of receiving thrombolysis was highest for indirect HEMS transport (OR 3.6, 2.2-6.0), followed by indirect ambulance accompanied by an emergency physician transport (OR 1.5, 1.1-1.9). The shortest times, 90 minutes or less from stroke onset to hospital arrival, were achieved with direct AMBP and direct HEMS transport. CONCLUSIONS: The shortest hospital arrival times and highest thrombolysis rates were seen in ischemic stroke patients transported by helicopter.

Stroke thrombolysis: having more time translates into delayed therapy: data from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke declines with increasing time to treatment initiation. Previous small-scale studies suggested that the earlier patients arrive, the longer it takes to administer recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. METHODS: Of 32 529 patients with stroke prospectively enrolled in the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry (2004 to 2009), 3287 received intravenous thrombolysis and 2663 of them were eligible for the current analysis. RESULTS: Median (interquartile range) onset-to-door and door-to-needle times were 70 (50 to 100) and 50 (35 to 70) minutes. Of note, both time intervals were inversely correlated with each other. After adjustment for multiple stroke characteristics, the door-to-needle time of patients arriving in the hospital within the first hour after stroke onset was 6.9 minutes (P<0.001) and 13.9 minutes (P<0.001) longer than those for patients arriving between 61 to 120 and 121 to 180 minutes. Findings were consistent in subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Early hospital arrival translates into a significant delay in the application of intravenous thrombolysis among patients with acute stroke. This finding calls for concerted measures to ensure that all patients with stroke are treated with the same urgency irrespective of the time available.

Prehospital and intra-hospital time delays in posterior circulation stroke: results from the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry.

Therapeutic effect of recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is time dependent. There is limited evidence whether localization of stroke within the posterior circulation (PCS) is associated with a treatment delay. We aimed to analyze within a nationwide multicenter cohort whether duration of pre- and intra-hospital patient management differs between patients with PCS and anterior circulation strokes (ACS). We studied onset-to-door-times (ODT) and door-to-needle-times (DNT) of all patients with acute ischemic stroke (IS) enrolled in the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry according to infarct localization. Classification into PCS and ACS was based on clinical presentation applying the criteria used in the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project. Relationships between ODT, respectively, DNT and explanatory variables were modeled by multivariate linear regression. Between 2003 and 2015, 71010 patients with IS were enrolled, 11,924 with PCS and 59,086 with ACS. Overall, the ODT was significantly longer in PCS: median (IQR): 170 (25th, 75th‰: 79,420) min versus 110 (60,240); p < 0.001; this finding held true in multivariable analysis. In 10535 rt-PA-treated patients (1022 PCS/9832 ACS), ODT and DNT were significantly longer among those with PCS: ODT: median: 80 min (55,120) versus 72 (50,110), p < 0.001; DNT: 57 (35.90) versus 45 (30.67), p < 0.001. In the multivariate model, PCS was significantly associated with delay in the DNT. In conclusion, in this large nationwide cohort, patient management was significantly slower in PCS as compared to ACS. Increasing awareness about these delays and further elaboration of the underlying causes may translate into higher proportions of patients with PCS receiving rt-PA.

Predictive value of ABCD2 and ABCD3-I scores in TIA and minor stroke in the stroke unit setting.

OBJECTIVE: It is not clear whether risk scores for early stroke recurrence after TIA that have been mainly established in outpatient and emergency department settings are valid on the background of highly specialized stroke unit care. METHODS: ABCD2 and ABCD3-I scores have been prospectively documented in a cohort of patients admitted to Austrian stroke units within 24 hours of symptom onset with TIA or minor stroke (NIH Stroke Scale score <4). RESULTS: A total of 5,237 TIA and minor stroke patients met inclusion criteria, with 3-month follow-up data available on 2,457. Early and 3-month stroke were observed in 2.4% and 4.2% of the study population. The probability of early stroke during the stroke unit stay (median 2 [interquartile range 1-3] days) steadily increased from 0% to 4.8% and 0% to 16.7% with increasing ABCD2 and ABCD3-I score points, respectively. On 3-month follow-up, stroke risk increased from 0% to 8.0% and 0% to 23.8% with increasing ABCD2 and ABCD3-I score points, respectively. Of the individual score components, age, blood pressure, and diabetes were not related to early or 3-month stroke, whereas clinical presentation (C), symptom duration (D), and cerebral as well as carotid imaging (I) were and accounted for the information provided by the full scores. CONCLUSIONS: Standard ABCD2 and ABCD3-I scores are useful instruments to estimate the probability of early and 3-month stroke in TIA and minor stroke patients treated at specialized stroke units, with C, D, and I being the most important score components in this setting.

Weather as physiologically equivalent was not associated with ischemic stroke onsets in Vienna, 2004-2010.

Stroke rates were found to have seasonal variations. However, previous studies using air temperature, humidity, or air pressure separately were not adequate, and the study catchment was not clearly drawn. Therefore, here we proposed to use a thermal index called physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) that incorporates air temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, air pressure and radiation flux from a biometeorological approach to estimate the effect of weather as physiologically equivalent on ischemic stroke onsets in an Austrian population. Eight thousand four hundred eleven stroke events in Vienna registered within the Austrian Stroke Unit Register from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2010 were included and were correlated with the weather data, obtained from the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics in the same area and study time period and calculated as PET (°C). Statistical analysis involved Poisson regression modeling. The median age was 74 years, and men made up 49 % of the entire population. Eighty percent had hypertension while 25.4 % were current smokers. Of note, 26.5 % had diabetes mellitus, 28.9 % had pre-stroke, and 11.5 % had pre-myocardial infarction. We have observed that onsets were higher on the weekdays than on the weekend. However, we did not find any significant association between PETs and ischemic stroke onsets by subtypes in Vienna. We did not observe any significant associations between PETs and ischemic stroke onsets by subtypes in Vienna. Hospital admission peaks on the weekdays might be due to hospital administration reasons.

IV thrombolysis in patients with ischemic stroke and alcohol abuse.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether chronic alcohol consumption or acute alcohol intoxication affects the rate of IV thrombolysis (IVT) and associated risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (SICH) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (IS). METHODS: We analyzed data from the nationwide Austrian Stroke Unit Registry for all patients with IS admitted to one of 35 stroke units between 2004 and 2014. We compared demographic and clinical characteristics for patients with chronic alcohol consumption (>2 drinks/d) or acute intoxication and for patients without these factors and their rates of IVT and associated SICH. RESULTS: We identified 47,422 patients with IS. Of these patients, 3,999 (8.5%) consumed alcohol chronically and 216 (0.5%) presented with acute intoxication. Alcohol abusers were younger, more frequently men, and less often functionally disabled before the index event. Stroke severity was comparable between alcoholic and nonalcoholic IS patients. Nevertheless, patients who abused alcohol were less likely to receive IVT (16.6% vs 18.9%) and this difference remained after accounting for possible confounders. Rates of SICH after IVT were not increased in patients who abused alcohol (2.1% vs 3.7%, p = 0.04). Multivariate analysis including age, NIH Stroke Scale score, and time from symptom onset to IVT treatment showed that alcohol abuse was not an independent risk factor for SICH and was not protective (odds ratio 0.73, 95% confidence interval 0.43-1.25, p = 0.2). CONCLUSIONS: IS patients with chronic alcohol consumption or acute intoxication have decreased likelihood of receiving IVT and are not at an increased risk of associated SICH. This supports current practice guidelines, which do not list chronic alcohol consumption or acute intoxication as an exclusion criterion.

Can online benchmarking increase rates of thrombolysis? Data from the Austrian stroke unit registry.

Despite its widespread availability and known safety and efficacy, a therapy with intravenous thrombolysis is still undergiven. We aimed to identify whether nationwide quality projects--like the stroke registry in Austria--as well as online benchmarking and predefined target values can increase rates of thrombolysis. Therefore, we assessed 6,394 out of 48,462 patients with ischemic stroke from the Austrian stroke registry (study period from March 2003 to December 2011) who had undergone thrombolysis treatment. We defined lower level and target values as quality parameters and evaluated whether or not these parameters could be achieved in the past years. We were able to show that rates of thrombolysis in Austria increased from 4.9% in 2003 to 18.3% in 2011. In a multivariate regression model, the main impact seen was the increase over the years [the OR ranges from 0.47 (95% CI 0.32-0.68) in 2003 to 2.51 (95% CI 2.20-2.87) in 2011). The predefined lower and target levels of thrombolysis were achieved at the majority of participating centers: in 2011 the lower value of 5% was achieved at all stroke units, and the target value of 15% was observed at 21 of 34 stroke units. We conclude that online benchmarking and the concept of defining target values as a tool for nationwide acute stroke care appeared to result in an increase in the rate of thrombolysis over the last few years while the variability between the stroke units has not yet been reduced.

Differences in process management and in-hospital delays in treatment with iv thrombolysis.

OBJECTIVES: Rapid initiation of intravenous thrombolysis improves patient's outcome in acute stroke. We analyzed inter-center variability and factors that influence the door-to-needle time with a special focus on process measurements in all Austrian stroke units. METHODS: Case level data of patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis in the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry were enriched with information of a structured questionnaire on center specific process measures of all Austrian stroke units. Influence of case and center specific variables was determined by LASSO procedure. RESULTS: Center specific median door-to-needle time ranged between 30 and 78 minutes. Between April 2004 and November 2012, 6246 of 57991 patients treated in Austrian stroke units with acute ischemic stroke received intravenous thrombolysis. An onset-to-door time >120 minutes, patients with total anterior circulation stroke, recent year of admission, patient transportation with ambulance crew and emergency physician, the use of point of care tests reduced the door-to-needle time, whereas onset-to-door ≤ 60 minutes, unknown onset-to-door, patients with an NIHSS ≤ 4 or posterior circulation stroke, initial admission to a general emergency department, a distant radiology department, primary imaging modality other than plain CT and waiting for the lab results were associated with an increase in door-to-needle time. Case level and center specific factors could explain the inter center variability of door-to-needle times in 31 of 34 stroke units in Austria. CONCLUSIONS: In light of our results it seems crucial that every single stroke center documents and critically reviews possibilities of optimizing practice strategies in acute stroke care.

Impact of external price referencing on medicine prices - a price comparison among 14 European countries.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to examine the impact of external price referencing (EPR) on on-patent medicine prices, adjusting for other factors that may affect price levels such as sales volume, exchange rates, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, total pharmaceutical expenditure (TPE), and size of the pharmaceutical industry. METHODS: Price data of 14 on-patent products, in 14 European countries in 2007 and 2008 were obtained from the Pharmaceutical Price Information Service of the Austrian Health Institute. Based on the unit ex-factory prices in EURO, scaled ranks per country and per product were calculated. For the regression analysis the scaled ranks per country and product were weighted; each country had the same sum of weights but within a country the weights were proportional to its sales volume in the year (data obtained from IMS Health). Taking the scaled ranks, several statistical analyses were performed by using the program "R", including a multiple regression analysis (including variables such as GDP per capita and national industry size). RESULTS: This study showed that on average EPR as a pricing policy leads to lower prices. However, the large variation in price levels among countries using EPR confirmed that the price level is not only driven by EPR. The unadjusted linear regression model confirms that applying EPR in a country is associated with a lower scaled weighted rank (p=0.002). This interaction persisted after inclusion of total pharmaceutical expenditure per capita and GDP per capita in the final model. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that for patented products, prices are in general lower in case the country applied EPR. Nevertheless substantial price differences among countries that apply EPR could be identified. Possible explanations could be found through a correlation between pharmaceutical industry and the scaled price ranks. In conclusion, we found that implementing external reference pricing could lead to lower prices.