Patients who had had a cryptogenic stroke and had a PFO were randomly assigned to medical therapy or PFO closure. At a median of 5.9 years, the rate of recurrent ischemic strokes was lower in the PFO ...closure group than in the medical-therapy group.
In this study, closure of a patent foramen ovale versus medical therapy alone after cryptogenic stroke was not effective in preventing recurrent stroke. Secondary analyses suggested a possible ...benefit, but the study did not permit a definitive conclusion.
It is unknown whether closure of a patent foramen ovale is effective in the prevention of recurrent stroke after a cryptogenic ischemic stroke. Observational studies and meta-analyses have suggested that closure is associated with a benefit; however, a randomized trial, Evaluation of the STARFlex Septal Closure System in Patients with a Stroke and/or Transient Ischemic Attack due to Presumed Paradoxical Embolism through a Patent Foramen Ovale (CLOSURE I), failed to show the superiority of closure over medical therapy alone.
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In observational studies, the Amplatzer PFO Occluder has been shown to have advantageous safety features as a closure device.
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BACKGROUND:The American Heart Association, in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health, annually reports on the most up-to-date statistics related to heart disease, stroke, and ...cardiovascular risk factors, including core health behaviors (smoking, physical activity, diet, and weight) and health factors (cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose control) that contribute to cardiovascular health. The Statistical Update presents the latest data on a range of major clinical heart and circulatory disease conditions (including stroke, congenital heart disease, rhythm disorders, subclinical atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, heart failure, valvular disease, venous disease, and peripheral artery disease) and the associated outcomes (including quality of care, procedures, and economic costs).
METHODS:The American Heart Association, through its Statistics Committee, continuously monitors and evaluates sources of data on heart disease and stroke in the United States to provide the most current information available in the annual Statistical Update. The 2020 Statistical Update is the product of a full year’s worth of effort by dedicated volunteer clinicians and scientists, committed government professionals, and American Heart Association staff members. This year’s edition includes data on the monitoring and benefits of cardiovascular health in the population, metrics to assess and monitor healthy diets, an enhanced focus on social determinants of health, a focus on the global burden of cardiovascular disease, and further evidence-based approaches to changing behaviors, implementation strategies, and implications of the American Heart Association’s 2020 Impact Goals.
RESULTS:Each of the 26 chapters in the Statistical Update focuses on a different topic related to heart disease and stroke statistics.
CONCLUSIONS:The Statistical Update represents a critical resource for the lay public, policy makers, media professionals, clinicians, healthcare administrators, researchers, health advocates, and others seeking the best available data on these factors and conditions.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE—The purpose of these guidelines is to provide an up-to-date comprehensive set of recommendations in a single document for clinicians caring for adult patients with acute ...arterial ischemic stroke. The intended audiences are prehospital care providers, physicians, allied health professionals, and hospital administrators. These guidelines supersede the 2013 Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) Guidelines and are an update of the 2018 AIS Guidelines.
METHODS—Members of the writing group were appointed by the American Heart Association (AHA) Stroke Council’s Scientific Statements Oversight Committee, representing various areas of medical expertise. Members were not allowed to participate in discussions or to vote on topics relevant to their relations with industry. An update of the 2013 AIS Guidelines was originally published in January 2018. This guideline was approved by the AHA Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee and the AHA Executive Committee. In April 2018, a revision to these guidelines, deleting some recommendations, was published online by the AHA. The writing group was asked review the original document and revise if appropriate. In June 2018, the writing group submitted a document with minor changes and with inclusion of important newly published randomized controlled trials with >100 participants and clinical outcomes at least 90 days after AIS. The document was sent to 14 peer reviewers. The writing group evaluated the peer reviewers’ comments and revised when appropriate. The current final document was approved by all members of the writing group except when relationships with industry precluded members from voting and by the governing bodies of the AHA. These guidelines use the American College of Cardiology/AHA 2015 Class of Recommendations and Level of Evidence and the new AHA guidelines format.
RESULTS—These guidelines detail prehospital care, urgent and emergency evaluation and treatment with intravenous and intra-arterial therapies, and in-hospital management, including secondary prevention measures that are appropriately instituted within the first 2 weeks. The guidelines support the overarching concept of stroke systems of care in both the prehospital and hospital settings.
CONCLUSIONS—These guidelines provide general recommendations based on the currently available evidence to guide clinicians caring for adult patients with acute arterial ischemic stroke. In many instances, however, only limited data exist demonstrating the urgent need for continued research on treatment of acute ischemic stroke.
Rationale
Recent data suggest that a thrombogenic atrial substrate can cause stroke in the absence of atrial fibrillation. Such an atrial cardiopathy may explain some proportion of cryptogenic ...strokes.
Aims
The aim of the ARCADIA trial is to test the hypothesis that apixaban is superior to aspirin for the prevention of recurrent stroke in subjects with cryptogenic ischemic stroke and atrial cardiopathy.
Sample size estimate
1100 participants.
Methods and design
Biomarker-driven, randomized, double-blind, active-control, phase 3 clinical trial conducted at 120 U.S. centers participating in NIH StrokeNet.
Population studied
Patients ≥ 45 years of age with embolic stroke of undetermined source and evidence of atrial cardiopathy, defined as ≥ 1 of the following markers: P-wave terminal force >5000 µV × ms in ECG lead V1, serum NT-proBNP > 250 pg/mL, and left atrial diameter index ≥ 3 cm/m2 on echocardiogram. Exclusion criteria include any atrial fibrillation, a definite indication or contraindication to antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy, or a clinically significant bleeding diathesis. Intervention: Apixaban 5 mg twice daily versus aspirin 81 mg once daily. Analysis: Survival analysis and the log-rank test will be used to compare treatment groups according to the intention-to-treat principle, including participants who require open-label anticoagulation for newly detected atrial fibrillation.
Study outcomes
The primary efficacy outcome is recurrent stroke of any type. The primary safety outcomes are symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and major hemorrhage other than intracranial hemorrhage.
Discussion
ARCADIA is the first trial to test whether anticoagulant therapy reduces stroke recurrence in patients with atrial cardiopathy but no known atrial fibrillation.
Full text
Available for:
NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE—The purpose of these guidelines is to provide an up-to-date comprehensive set of recommendations for clinicians caring for adult patients with acute arterial ischemic stroke in ...a single document. The intended audiences are prehospital care providers, physicians, allied health professionals, and hospital administrators. These guidelines supersede the 2013 guidelines and subsequent updates.
METHODS—Members of the writing group were appointed by the American Heart Association Stroke Council’s Scientific Statements Oversight Committee, representing various areas of medical expertise. Strict adherence to the American Heart Association conflict of interest policy was maintained. Members were not allowed to participate in discussions or to vote on topics relevant to their relations with industry. The members of the writing group unanimously approved all recommendations except when relations with industry precluded members voting. Prerelease review of the draft guideline was performed by 4 expert peer reviewers and by the members of the Stroke Council’s Scientific Statements Oversight Committee and Stroke Council Leadership Committee. These guidelines use the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association 2015 Class of Recommendations and Levels of Evidence and the new American Heart Association guidelines format.
RESULTS—These guidelines detail prehospital care, urgent and emergency evaluation and treatment with intravenous and intra-arterial therapies, and in-hospital management, including secondary prevention measures that are appropriately instituted within the first 2 weeks. The guidelines support the overarching concept of stroke systems of care in both the prehospital and hospital settings.
CONCLUSIONS—These guidelines are based on the best evidence currently available. In many instances, however, only limited data exist demonstrating the urgent need for continued research on treatment of acute ischemic stroke.
Accurate and timely diagnosis of intracranial vasculopathies is important due to significant risk of morbidity with delayed and/or incorrect diagnosis both from the disease process as well as ...inappropriate therapies. Conventional vascular imaging techniques for analysis of intracranial vascular disease provide limited information since they only identify changes to the vessel lumen. New advanced MR intracranial vessel wall imaging (IVW) techniques can allow direct characterisation of the vessel wall. These techniques can advance diagnostic accuracy and may potentially improve patient outcomes by better guided treatment decisions in comparison to previously available invasive and non-invasive techniques. While neuroradiological expertise is invaluable in accurate examination interpretation, clinician familiarity with the application and findings of the various vasculopathies on IVW can help guide diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making. This review article provides a brief overview of the technical aspects of IVW and discusses the IVW findings of various intracranial vasculopathies, differentiating characteristics and indications for when this technique can be beneficial in patient management.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE—Our goal is to determine the added value of intracranial vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging (IVWI) in differentiating nonocclusive vasculopathies compared with luminal ...imaging alone.
METHODS—We retrospectively reviewed images from patients with both luminal and IVWI to identify cases with clinically defined intracranial vasculopathiesatherosclerosis (intracranial atherosclerotic disease), reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, and inflammatory vasculopathy. Two neuroradiologists blinded to clinical data reviewed the luminal imaging of defined luminal stenoses/irregularities and evaluated the pattern of involvement to make a presumed diagnosis with diagnostic confidence. Six weeks later, the 2 raters rereviewed the luminal imaging in addition to IVWI for the pattern of wall involvement, presence and pattern of postcontrast enhancement, and presumed diagnosis and confidence. Analysis was performed on per-lesion and per-patient bases.
RESULTS—Thirty intracranial atherosclerotic disease, 12 inflammatory vasculopathies, and 12 reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome patients with 201 lesions (90 intracranial atherosclerotic disease, 64 reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, and 47 inflammatory vasculopathy lesions) were included. For both per-lesion and per-patient analyses, there was significant diagnostic accuracy improvement with luminal imaging+IVWI when compared with luminal imaging alone (per-lesion88.8% versus 36.1%; P<0.001 and per-patient96.3% versus 43.5%; P<0.001, respectively). There was substantial interrater diagnostic agreement for luminal imaging+IVWI (κ=0.72) and only slight agreement for luminal imaging (κ=0.04). Although there was a significant correlation for both luminal and IVWI pattern of wall involvement with diagnosis, there was a stronger correlation for IVWI finding of lesion eccentricity and intracranial atherosclerotic disease diagnosis than for luminal imaging (κ=0.69 versus 0.18; P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS—IVWI can significantly improve the differentiation of nonocclusive intracranial vasculopathies when combined with traditional luminal imaging modalities.
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