Histologic features of acute thrombi retrieved from stroke patients during mechanical reperfusion therapy

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1036-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong Hwan Ahn ◽  
Ran Hong ◽  
In Sung Choo ◽  
Ji Hoe Heo ◽  
Hyo Suk Nam ◽  
...  

Background The histologic features of thrombus may differ according to the stroke subtypes. However, in acute reperfusion therapy, fibrin-specific thrombolytics are used based on the assumption that all thrombi are alike. Aims The histologic characteristics of thrombi were compared between patients with different stroke etiologies. Methods Between April 2010 and March 2012, we analyzed thrombi retrieved from acute stroke patients during mechanical thrombectomy. All thrombi were analyzed using component-specific stains such as Martius scarlet blue for fibrins and immunostaining with CD42b antibody for platelets. The stroke subtypes were determined based on the Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment classification. Results Among 36 patients, 22 were diagnosed with cardioembolism, 8 with atherothrombosis, and 6 with undetermined etiology. In arteriogenic thrombi, red blood cells were most abundant (56.9 ± 12.2%), and the platelets covered the fibrin layers or were localized at the edge or periphery of the thrombus. In cardiogenic thrombi, fibrin was most abundant (39.5 ± 13.5%), and platelets were clustered within the rich fibrin. Red blood cells proportion was greater in arteriogenic thrombi than in cardiogenic thrombi ( p < 0.001), whereas fibrin proportion was greater in cardiogenic thrombi than in arteriogenic thrombi ( p = 0.003). Of six patients with undetermined etiology, the thrombi in five showed histologic features and composition similar to that of cardiogenic thrombi. Conclusions Acute thrombi showed different histologic features according to the stroke etiology. The distribution of platelets and proportion of red blood cells and fibrin were major distinguishing factors between stroke subtypes.

Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Tong ◽  
Sallyann Coleman King ◽  
Erika Odom ◽  
Quanhe Yang

Introduction: Studies suggest a significant reduction in emergency department visits and hospitalizations for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Few studies have examined AIS hospitalizations, treatments, and outcomes during the pandemic period. The present study compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients hospitalized with AIS before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (weeks 11-24 in 2019 vs. 2020). Method: We identified 42,371 admissions with a clinical diagnosis of AIS, from 370 participating hospitals who contributed data during weeks 11-24 in both 2019 and 2020 to the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program (PCNASP). Results: During weeks 11-24 of the COVID-19 period, AIS hospitalizations declined by 24.5% compared to the same period in 2019 (18,233 in 2020 vs. 24,138 in 2019). In 2020, the percentage of individuals aged <65 years who were hospitalized with AIS was higher compared with the same period in 2019 (34.6% vs. 32.7%, p<0.001); arriving by EMS were higher in 2020 compared with 2019 (47.7% vs. 44.8%, p<0.001). Individuals admitted with AIS in 2020 had a higher mean National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score compared with 2019 (6.7 vs. 6.3, p<0.001). In 2020, the in-hospital death rates increased by 16% compared to 2019 (5.0% vs. 4.3%, p<0.001). However, there were no differences in rates of alteplase use, achievement of door to needle in 60 minutes, or complications from reperfusion therapy between the two time periods. Conclusion: A higher percentage of younger (<65 years) individuals and more severe AIS cases were admitted to the participating hospitals during weeks 11 to 24 of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The AIS in-hospital death rate increased 16% during the pandemic weeks as compared to the same weeks in 2019. Additional studies are needed to examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on stroke treatment and outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jil Kauffmann ◽  
Daniel Grün ◽  
Umut Yilmaz ◽  
Gudrun Wagenpfeil ◽  
Klaus Faßbender ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Stroke is among the most common causes of death and disability worldwide. Despite the relevance of stroke-related disease burden, which is constantly increasing due to the demographic change in industrialized countries with an ageing population and consecutively an increase in age-associated diseases, there is sparse evidence concerning acute stroke treatment and treatment-related outcome in the elderly patient group. This retrospective study aimed at analysing patient characteristics, therapy-related complications and functional outcome in stroke patients aged 90 years or older who underwent acute stroke treatment (i.e. intravenous thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy, or both). Methods We identified files of all inpatient stays at the Department of Neurology at Saarland University Medical Center (tertiary care level with a comprehensive stroke unit) between June 2011 and December 2018 and filtered for subjects aged 90 years or older at the time of admission. We reviewed patient files for demographic data, symptoms upon admission, (main) diagnoses, comorbidities, and administered therapies. For patients admitted due to acute stroke we reviewed files for therapy-related complications and functional outcome. We compared the modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores upon admission and at discharge for these patients. Results We identified 566 inpatient stays of subjects aged 90 years or older. Three hundred sixty-seven of the 566 patients (64.8%) were admitted and discharged due to symptoms indicative of stroke. Two hundred eleven patients received a diagnosis of ischaemic stroke. These 211 patients were analysed subsequently. Sixty-four patients qualified for acute stroke treatment (intravenous thrombolysis n = 22, mechanical thrombectomy n = 26, intravenous thrombolysis followed by mechanical thrombectomy n = 16) and showed a significant improvement in their functional status as measured by change in mRS score (admission vs. discharge, p 0.001) with 7 (10.9%) observed potentially therapy-related complications (relevant drop in haemoglobin n = 2, subarachnoidal haemorrhage n = 1, cerebral haemorrhage n = 3, extracranial bleeding n = 1). One intravenous thrombolysis was stopped because of an uncontrollable hypertensive crisis. Patients who did not qualify for these treatments (including those declining acute treatment) did not show a change of their functional status between admission and discharge (p 0.064). Conclusion Our data indicate that acute stroke treatment is effective and safe in the oldest old. Age alone is no criterion to withhold an acute intervention even in oldest old stroke patients.


Author(s):  
Juha-Pekka Pienimäki ◽  
Jyrki Ollikainen ◽  
Niko Sillanpää ◽  
Sara Protto

Abstract Purpose Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is the first-line treatment in acute stroke patients presenting with large vessel occlusion (LVO). The efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) prior to MT is being contested. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of MT without IVT in patients with no contraindications to IVT presenting directly to a tertiary stroke center with acute anterior circulation LVO. Materials and Methods We collected the data of 106 acute stroke patients who underwent MT in a single high-volume stroke center. Patients with anterior circulation LVO eligible for IVT and directly admitted to our institution who subsequently underwent MT were included. We recorded baseline clinical, laboratory, procedural, and imaging variables and technical, imaging, and clinical outcomes. The effect of intravenous thrombolysis on 3-month clinical outcome (mRS) was analyzed with univariate tests and binary and ordinal logistic regression analysis. Results Fifty-eight out of the 106 patients received IVT + MT. These patients had 2.6-fold higher odds of poorer clinical outcome in mRS shift analysis (p = 0.01) compared to MT-only patients who had excellent 3-month clinical outcome (mRS 0–1) three times more often (p = 0.009). There were no significant differences between the groups in process times, mTICI, or number of hemorrhagic complications. A trend of less distal embolization and higher number of device passes was observed among the MT-only patients. Conclusions MT without prior IVT was associated with an improved overall three-month clinical outcome in acute anterior circulation LVO patients.


Stroke ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuichi Tonomura

Objective: The accuracy of prehospital diagnosis for stroke by emergency medical services (EMS) is improved using instruments for symptom recognition. On the other hand, prehospital misdiagnosis for stroke and subsequent delay in presentation to a hospital with stroke expertise play a critical role in the exclusion of potential therapeutic candidates. Our study aims to investigate the clinical characteristics of pseudo-negative cases in prehospital triage for stroke/TIA by EMS. Methods: From April 2013 to April 2014, consecutive 644 acute stroke patients were transferred by EMS to our hospital. We investigated prehospital diagnosis, Cincinnati prehospital stroke scale (CPSS) by EMS, neurological symptoms and complaints of patients themselves at stroke onset. We also examined activity of daily life (ADL) and cognitive impairments before stroke onset, and stroke subtypes in final diagnoses. Results: Among 644 acute stroke patients, 36 patients (22 men, mean 72.5±4.4 years old) were pseudo-negative cases in prehospital triage for stroke and had no abnormalities in CPSS by EMS. When EMS arrived at emergency site, 12 patients (33%) had loss of consciousness. Before stroke onset, 6 patients (17%) had impaired ADL (modified Rankin Scale >2), and 5 (14%) cognitive impairment. Among the stroke subtypes, the proportion of small vessel occlusion (22.4%, p=0.0025) and transient ischemic attack (TIA) (25%, p=0.0021) was significant higher in pseudo negative cases in prehospital triage; on the other hand, intracranial hemorrage (11%, p=0.0028) was lower. In complaint of patients themselves at stroke onset, weakness in one or two extremities was reported in 20 patients (56%), abnormal speech/language in 13 (36%), however all of them were not clarified by EMS. Conclusion: This study showed that small vessel occlusion and TIA tend to be misdiagnosed in a prehospital triage by EMS. The complaint of patients themselves at stroke onset is important to prehospital diagnoses by EMS.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Huynh* ◽  
Niran Vijayaraghavan* ◽  
Hannah Branstetter ◽  
Natalie Buchwald ◽  
Justin De Prey ◽  
...  

Introduction: Hyperintense acute reperfusion marker (HARM) has been identified on post-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to be a marker of hemorrhagic conversion (HC) post reperfusion therapy in acute stroke patients. We have previously described a case where MRI HARM was mimicked on post contrast computed topography (CT) imaging in an acute stroke patient post reperfusion. Dual-Energy (DECT) allows for differentiation between acute blood and iodine contrast extravasation (ICE), and thus can have utility when ICE is present. Here we sought to validate whether post-intervention ICE/CT hyperdensity reperfusion maker (CT HARM), and contrast subtracted on DECT is associated with HC in acute stroke patients. Method: Data was obtained from our Institutional Review Board approved stroke admission database from January 2017 to November 2019, including ischemic stroke patients that received thrombolysis or thrombectomy, had evaluable images within 24 hours of admission, and received a DECT. Ischemic volumes of the stroke was measured on diffusion-weighted image (DWI). ICE was measured on CT head and DECT using the freehand 3D region of interest tool on the Visage Imaging PACS System. Susceptibility weighted MRI sequences were used to grade HC. Data analysis was conducted with regression modeling. Results: A total of 82 patients were included, 49% women, median age 73 (interquartile range (IQR), 61- 77), admission NIHSS 12 (IQR, 7 - 21), 24 hour change in NIHSS 4 (IQR, 0 -13), glucose 125 (IQR, 106 -158), creatinine 1.0 (IQR, 0.8 - 1.2), infarct volume 50.6 ± 7.1 mL, 48% treated with thrombectomy, 7% with PH-1 or PH-2 identified on MRI, and 56% with MCA infarcts. ICE volume was 2.6 ± 1.0 mL and DECT volume was 2.2 ± 1.1mL. ICE increased the likelihood of MRI confirmed PH-1 or PH-2 hemorrhagic conversion (odds ratio (OR) 14.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.74 - 22.94) and decreased likelihood of increase in NIHSS at 24 hours (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.40). There were no other significant associations with ICE or DECT volumes. Conclusion: Our results are supportive of our proposed association between CT HARM and risk of HC. More studies are needed to study whether quantitative of DECT can be predictive of stroke outcomes post reperfusion therapy.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
RAJAN R GADHIA ◽  
Farhaan S Vahidy ◽  
Tariq Nisar ◽  
Destiny Hooper ◽  
David Chiu ◽  
...  

Objective: Most acute stroke treatment trials exclude patients above the age of 80. Given the clear benefit of revascularization with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT), we sought to assess functional outcomes in patients treated above the age of 80. Methods: We conducted a review of all patients admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital between January 2019 and August 2020 with an acute ischemic stroke (AIS) presentation[MOU1] for whom premorbid, discharge, and 90 day modified Rankin Scale scores were available. Patients were categorized by acute stroke treatment (IV tPA, MT, both or none[MOU2] ). mRS values were assessed during admission prior to discharge and at 90 days post stroke event. A delta mRS (Discharge vs. 90-day [MOU3] ) was defined and grouped as no change, improved, or worsened to assess overall functional disability in regards to the index stroke presentation. Results: A total of 865 patients with AIS presentation were included, of whom 651 (75.3%) were <80 years and 214 (24.7%) were > 80 years of age at presentation. A total of 208 patients received IV tPA, 176 underwent revascularization with MT only, 71 had both treatments, and 552 had no acute intervention. In patients >80 yrs who had no acute stroke intervention. mRS improvement was noted in 71.4% compared to 54.1% observed in those patients <80 years. Among patients who received IV tPA, 81.5% of > 80 years improved vs. 61.6% in the younger cohort. A similar trend was noted in the MT and combined treatment groups (76.2% vs. 71.2% and 78.6% vs. 79.3%, respectively). Conclusion: Based on our cohort of acute stroke patients, there was no significant difference in outcomes (as measured by delta mRS) for octogenarians and nonagenarians when compared to younger patients. There was a trend towards improvement in the elderly patients. Chronological age by itself may be an insufficient predictor of functional outcome among stroke patients and age cutoffs for enrollment of patients in acute stroke trials may need additional considerations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-155
Author(s):  
Malaysian Society of Neurosciences

The 1st Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) on the management of ischaemic stroke was published in 2006 and the second edition was published in 2012. Since then, there was a rapid development in the management of acute stroke, mainly with the improvement and advancement of reperfusion therapy, encompassing both medical thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. Furthermore, the importance of timely intervention, especially in the emergency department, had significantly improved the outcome in stroke patients. Therefore, this current CPG emphasizes the hyperacute management and has introduced new chapters, for example, emergency medical services. With the growing numbers of elderly population in Malaysia, we have also included a new chapter on stroke in the older person. This 3rd edition was developed to provide a clear and concise approach based on current evidence with the focus being on the efforts to reduce time and improve pre-hospital care. We have summarised and adapted relevant clinical trials data and published literatures to our local practice.


Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuna Hosaka ◽  
Takahisa Mori ◽  
Yuki Sawada

Introduction: Acute stroke patients have problems with gait disturbance. Independent gait in hospitalized patients is important for early discharge to home. Therefore, we must find factors of disturbing independent gait following acute stroke and intensively treat them. Hypothesis: Impaired trunk control and cognitive function are factors of disturbing early independent gait. Methods: We included acute ischemic stroke patients who were admitted in our hospital from June 2017 to May 2018 and excluded patients with disturbed level of consciousness. We defined a score of 6 (modified Independence) or 7 (complete independence) in the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) as gait independence. We evaluated association of stroke subtypes, Brunnstrom recovery stage (BRS) of upper limbs, fingers and lower limbs, trunk control test (TCT) score and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score with early gait independence on the 7th day of a stroke onset. Results: One hundred twenty- six patients met our inclusive criteria and we analyzed them. Stroke subtypes had no relation to early gait independence. In gait independent and dependent patients on the 7th day, median BRS score of upper limbs was 5 and 5 (ns), median BRS score of fingers was 5 and5 (ns), median BRS score of lower limbs was 6 and 5 (p<0.01), TCT score was 100and 75 (p<0.01) and MMSE score was 28.5 and 24.5 (p<0.01), respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis that TCT (p<0.01) and BRS lower limbs (p<0.01) were independent factors for early independent gat. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for early gait independence demonstrated that cut-off values of TCT score and BRS of lower limbs and were 100 and 5. Conclusions: Impaired trunk control and muscle weakness of lower limbs were significant factors of disturbing early gait independence.


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