ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Antiplatelet therapy (APT) promotes bleeding; therefore, APT might worsen outcome in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to address the hypothesis that pre-ICH APT use is associated with mortality and poor functional outcome following ICH. METHODS: The Medline and Embase databases were searched in February 2008 using relevant key words, limited to human studies in the English language. Cohort studies of consecutive patients with ICH reporting mortality or functional outcome according to pre-ICH APT use were identified. Of 2,873 studies screened, 10 were judged to meet inclusion criteria by consensus of 2 authors. Additionally, we solicited unpublished data from all authors of cohort studies with >100 patients published within the last 10 years, and received data from 15 more studies. Univariate and multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for mortality and poor functional outcome were abstracted as available and pooled using a random effects model. RESULTS: We obtained mortality data from 25 cohorts (15 unpublished) and functional outcome data from 21 cohorts (14 unpublished). Pre-ICH APT users had increased mortality in both univariate (OR 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.21 to 1.64) and multivariable-adjusted (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.47) pooled analyses. By contrast, the pooled OR for poor functional outcome was no longer significant when using multivariable-adjusted estimates (univariate OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.53; multivariable-adjusted OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.29). CONCLUSIONS: In cohort studies, APT use at the time of ICH compared to no APT use was independently associated with increased mortality but not with poor functional outcome.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Hemorrhage/drug therapy , Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/adverse effects , Treatment Outcome , Analysis of Variance , Cerebral Hemorrhage/mortality , Cohort Studies , Confidence Intervals , Databases, Factual/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Odds RatioSubject(s)
Fibrinolytic Agents/therapeutic use , Stroke/drug therapy , Thrombolytic Therapy/statistics & numerical data , Tissue Plasminogen Activator/therapeutic use , Emergency Medical Services , Female , Fibrinolytic Agents/administration & dosage , Humans , Injections, Intravenous , Iran/epidemiology , Male , Stroke/epidemiology , Tissue Plasminogen Activator/administration & dosage , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Stroke in young adults causes morbidity in this socioeconomically active age group. The etiologic frequency of ischemic stroke in young adults differs around the world. METHODS: The study population consisted of 314,000 'young adult' residents in Southern Khorasan province in Iran. All patients with stroke are routinely admitted to the Valie Asr tertiary care hospital. Data on patients demographics, clinical presentation and investigations of consecutive patients aged 15-45 years with ischemic stroke are registered in Southern Khorasan stroke data bank for the period March 2000 to March 2005. All patients underwent a standard battery of diagnostic investigations by a stroke neurologist. The etiologic classification of stroke in the patients was made based on the trial of ORG 10172 in acute stroke treatment (TOAST) criteria. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-four patients (60 female, 64 male) were prospectively investigated during a 5-year period. The incidence of ischemic stroke in young adults was eight cases per 100,000 people per year. Cardioembolic mechanism comprised 54% of stroke etiology in young adults. Rheumatic valvular disease was present in 32% of the patients and caused 2.5 preventable stroke cases per 100,000 'young adults' per year. CONCLUSION: Rheumatic valvular disease is the most common cause and a preventable etiology of stroke in Persian young adults.
