Plateauing atrial fibrillation burden in acute ischemic stroke admissions in the United States from 2010 to 2020.

BACKGROUND: Utilization of oral anticoagulants for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) increased in the United States over the last decade. Whether this increase has been accompanied by any change in AF prevalence in AIS at the population level remains unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate trends in AF prevalence in AIS hospitalizations in various age, sex, and racial subgroups over the last decade. METHODS: We used data contained in the 2010-2020 National Inpatient Sample to conduct a serial cross-sectional study. Primary AIS hospitalizations with and without comorbid AF were identified using International Classification of Diseases Codes. Joinpoint regression was used to compute annualized percentage change (APC) in prevalence and to identify points of change in prevalence over time. RESULTS: Of 5,190,148 weighted primary AIS hospitalizations over the study period, 25.1% had comorbid AF. The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of AF in AIS hospitalizations increased across the entire study period 2010-2020 (average APC: 1.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8-1.7%). Joinpoint regression showed that prevalence increased in the period 2010-2015 (APC: 2.8%, 95% CI: 1.9-3.9%) but remained stable in the period 2015-2020 (APC: -0.3%, 95% CI: -1.0 to 1.9%). Upon stratification by age and sex, prevalence increased in all age/sex groups from 2010 to 2015 and continued to increase throughout the entire study period in hospitalizations in men 18-39 years (APC: 4.0%, 95% CI: 0.2-7.9%), men 40-59 years (APC: 3.4%, 95% CI: 1.9-4.9%) and women 40-59 years (APC: 4.4%, 95% CI: 2.0-6.8%). In contrast, prevalence declined in hospitalizations in women 60-79 (APC: -1.0%, 95% CI: -0.5 to -1.5%) and women ⩾ 80 years over the period 2015-2020 but plateaued in hospitalizations in similar-aged men over the same period. CONCLUSION: AF prevalence in AIS hospitalizations in the United States increased over the period 2010-2015, then plateaued over the period 2015-2020 due to declining prevalence in hospitalizations in women ⩾ 60 years and plateauing prevalence in hospitalizations in men ⩾ 60 years.

Demographic Disparities in the Incidence, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcome of Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate age-specific, sex-specific, and race-specific incidence of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in the United States. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the State Inpatient Database of Florida (2016-2019), Maryland (2016-2019), and New York (2016-2018). All new cases of PRES in adults (18 years or older) were combined with Census data to compute incidence. We evaluated the generalizability of incident estimates to the entire country using the 2016-2019 National Readmissions Database (NRD). RESULTS: Across the study period, there were 3,716 incident hospitalizations for PRES in the selected states. The age-standardized and sex-standardized incidence of PRES was 2.7 (95% CI 2.5-2.8) cases/100,000/y. Incidence in female patients was >2 times that of male patients (3.7 vs 1.6 cases/100,000/y, p < 0.001). Incidence increased with age in both sexes (p-trend <0.001). Similar demographic distribution of first hospitalization for PRES was also noted in the entire country using the NRD. Age-standardized and sex-standardized PRES incidence in Black patients (4.2/100,000/y) was significantly greater than in Non-Hispanic White (2.7/100,000/y) and Hispanic patients (1.2/100,000/y) (p < 0.001 for pairwise comparisons). DISCUSSION: The incidence of PRES in the United States is approximately 3/100,000/y, but incidence in female patients is >2 times that of male patients. PRES incidence is higher in Black compared with non-Hispanic White and Hispanic patients.

Age- and Sex-Specific Trends in Medical Complications After Acute Ischemic Stroke in the United States.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that the age and sex-specific prevalence of infectious (pneumonia, sepsis, and urinary tract infection [UTI]) and noninfectious (deep venous thrombosis [DVT], pulmonary embolism [PE], acute renal failure [ARF], acute myocardial infarction [AMI], and gastrointestinal bleeding [GIB]) complications increased after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) hospitalization in the United States from 2007 to 2019. METHODS: We conducted a serial cross-sectional study using the 2007-2019 National Inpatient Sample. Primary AIS admissions in adults (aged 18 years or older) with and without complications were identified using International Classification of Diseases codes. We quantified the age/sex-specific prevalence of complications and used negative binomial regression models to evaluate trends over time. RESULTS: Of 5,751,601 weighted admissions, 51.4% were women. 25.1% had at least 1 complication. UTI (11.8%), ARF (10.1%), pneumonia (3.2%), and AMI (2.5%) were the most common complications, while sepsis (1.7%), GIB (1.1%), DVT (1.2%), and PE (0.5%) were the least prevalent. Marked disparity in complication risk existed by age/sex (UTI: men 18-39 years 2.1%; women 80 years or older 22.5%). Prevalence of UTI (12.9%-9.7%) and pneumonia (3.8%-2.7%) declined, but that of ARF increased by ≈3-fold (4.8%-14%) over the period 2007-2019 (all p < 0.001). AMI (1.9%-3.1%), DVT (1.0%-1.4%), and PE (0.3%-0.8%) prevalence also increased (p < 0.001), but that of sepsis and GIB remained unchanged over time. After multivariable adjustment, risk of all complications increased with increasing NIH Stroke Scale (pneumonia: prevalence rate ratio [PRR] 1.03, 95% CI 1.03-1.04, for each unit increase), but IV thrombolysis was associated with a reduced risk of all complications (pneumonia: PRR 0.80, 85% CI 0.73-0.88; AMI: PRR 0.85, 95% CI 0.78-0.92; and DVT PRR 0.87, 95% CI 0.78-0.98). Mechanical thrombectomy was associated with a reduced risk of UTI, sepsis, and ARF, but DVT and PE were more prevalent in MT hospitalizations compared with those without. All complications except UTI were associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality (sepsis: PRR 1.97, 95% CI 1.78-2.19). DISCUSSION: Infectious complications declined, but noninfectious complications increased after AIS admissions in the United States in the last decade. Utilization of IV thrombolysis is associated with a reduced risk of all complications.

Trends in the Incidence of Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhages in the United States, 2007-2017.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that age-specific, sex-specific, and race-specific and ethnicity-specific incidence of nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) increased in the United States over the last decade. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, validated International Classification of Diseases codes were used to identify all new cases of SAH (n = 39,475) in the State Inpatients Databases of New York and Florida (2007-2017). SAH counts were combined with Census data to calculate incidence. Joinpoint regression was used to compute the annual percentage change (APC) in incidence and to compare trends over time between demographic subgroups. RESULTS: Across the study period, the average annual age-standardized/sex-standardized incidence of SAH in cases per 100,000 population was 11.4, but incidence was significantly higher in women (13.1) compared with that in men (9.6), p < 0.001. Incidence also increased with age in both sexes (men aged 20-44 years: 3.6; men aged 65 years or older: 22.0). Age-standardized and sex-standardized incidence was greater in Black patients (15.4) compared with that in non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients (9.9) and other races and ethnicities, p < 0.001. On joinpoint regression, incidence increased over time (APC 0.7%, p < 0.001), but most of this increase occurred in men aged 45-64 years (APC 1.1%, p = 0.006), men aged 65 years or older (APC 2.3%, p < 0.001), and women aged 65 years or older (APC 0.7%, p = 0.009). Incidence in women aged 20-44 years declined (APC -0.7%, p = 0.017), while those in other age/sex groups remained unchanged over time. Incidence increased in Black patients (APC 1.8%, p = 0.014), whereas that in Asian, Hispanic, and NHW patients did not change significantly over time. DISCUSSION: Nontraumatic SAH incidence in the United States increased over the last decade predominantly in middle-aged men and elderly men and women. Incidence is disproportionately higher and increasing in Black patients, whereas that in other races and ethnicities did not change significantly over time.

Age-specific trends in intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy utilization in acute ischemic stroke in children under age 18.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate current trends in the utilization of intravenous thrombolysis (IV-tPA) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in various age groups of children in the United States. METHODS: We conducted a serial cross-sectional study using primary AIS admissions in children ⩽ 17 years (weighted n = 2807) contained in the 2009-2019 KIDS Inpatient Database. Age-specific utilization frequency of IV-tPA and MT were calculated. Multivariable-adjusted models were used to evaluate demographic predictors of treatment. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2019, there were 2807 AIS admissions in children in the KID of which 55.9% were in boys and 29.9% were 15-17 years old.128 (4.6%) received IV-tPA. IV-tPA utilization differed by age (5-9 years: 3.1%, 15-17 years 8.1% p value < 0.001). Overall MT usage was 2.3% and this also varied by age (1-4 years: 0.9% and 15-17years 4.0%, p value = 0.006). IV-tPA utilization almost tripled across the study period (2.5% 2009 to 6.5% in 2019, p value = 0.001) while MT use more than doubled over time (1.2% in 2009 and 3.0% in 2019, p value = 0.048). Increased IV-tPA utilization was seen primarily in children 10-14 years (0.8% in 2009 to 7.2% 2019, p value = 0.005) and 15-17 years (5.4% in 2009 to 10.4% in 2019, p value = 0.045). Utilization in younger age groups remained unchanged over time. MT usage was very variable across various age groups over time. IV-tPA and MT utilization increased over time in nonchildren's hospitals (both p values < 0.05) but usage in designated children's hospitals did not change significantly over time. In multivariable models, there was no significant difference in odds of IV-tPA and MT use by sex, race or insurance status. CONCLUSION: IV-tPA and MT utilization in pediatric AIS increased in the United States over the past decade mainly in older children 10-17 years. Utilization increased mainly in patients hospitalized in nonchildren's hospitals. Usage in children's hospitals did not change significantly over time.