Stroke; a journal of cerebral circulation
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Multicenter Study
Computed tomography identifies patients at high risk for stroke after transient ischemic attack/nondisabling stroke: prospective, multicenter cohort study.
Ischemia on computed tomography (CT) is associated with subsequent stroke after transient ischemic attack. This study assessed CT findings of acute ischemia, chronic ischemia, or microangiopathy for predicting subsequent stroke after transient ischemic attack. ⋯ In patients with transient ischemic attack/nondisabling stroke, CT evidence of acute ischemia alone or acute ischemia with chronic ischemia or microangiopathy was associated with increased subsequent stroke risk within 90 days.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of emergency department (ED) patients with a diagnosis of peripheral vertigo who received computed tomography (CT) head imaging in the ED and to examine whether strokes were missed using CT imaging. ⋯ One fifth of patients diagnosed with peripheral vertigo in Ontario received imaging that is not recommended in guidelines, and that imaging was associated with missed strokes.
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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is increasingly prevalent in the elderly, but such patients tend to be under-represented in clinical trials. Increasing age confers a higher risk of stroke and bleeding when antithrombotic therapy is used. We examined risk factors for stroke and bleeding among elderly (age, >75 years) patients within a real world hospitalized cohort from the Loire Valley AF project. ⋯ Elderly patients with AF have a higher risk of stroke and bleeding, but the benefits of VKA therapy for stroke/thromboembolism or mortality were present regardless of increasing age.
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The benefit of strict blood pressure (BP) control in high-risk patients with symptomatic major cerebral artery disease and misery perfusion (MP) is controversial. Our purposes were (1) to determine whether MP is a predictor of a 5-year risk of subsequent stroke and (2) to investigate the relationships among BP during follow-up, MP, and the stroke risk. ⋯ Patients with MP showed a high-5-year stroke recurrence, but a large part of the 5-year stroke risk disappeared after 2 years. Aggressive BP control may be hazardous in patients with impaired perfusion, including MP.
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Asymptomatic cerebral small-vessel disease (cSVD) in elderly individuals are potent risk factors for stroke. In addition to common clinical risk factors, postural instability has been postulated to be associated with cSVD in older frail patients. Here, we conducted a cross-sectional study to understand the possible link between postural instability and asymptomatic cSVD further, namely periventricular hyperintensity, lacunar infarction, and microbleeds, as well as cognitive function, in a middle-aged to elderly general population (n=1387). ⋯ Postural instability was found to be associated with early pathological changes in the brain and functional decline, even in apparently healthy subjects.