Challenges in adapting a stroke unit in a middle-income country: warning about costs and underfunding to achieve the Brazilian Ministry of Health's benchmark.

Background: Since the implementation of the stroke care line in Brazil, the relationship (adequacy) of costs spent during hospitalization with the Brazilian Ministry of Health indicators for a stroke unit have not yet been analyzed. Aims: This study aimed to assess the adequacy of a comprehensive stroke center for key performance indicators and analyze the costs involved in hospitalization. We verified the association between stroke severity at admission and care costs during hospitalization. Methods: A retrospective medical chart review of 451 patients was performed using semiautomatic electronic data from a single comprehensive stroke center in Brazil between July 2018 and January 2020. Clinical and resource utilization data were collected, and the mean acute treatment cost per person was calculated. The Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's post-test was used to compare the total costs between stroke types and reperfusion therapies. A robust linear regression test was used to verify the association between stroke severity at hospital admission and the total hospitalization costs. Good adequacy rates were observed for several indicators. Results: Data from 451 patients were analyzed. The stroke unit had good adaptation to key performance indicators, but some critical points needed revision and improvement to adapt to the requirements of the Ministry of Health. The average total cost of the patient's stay was the USD 2,637.3, with the daily hospitalization, procedure, operating room, and materials/medication costs equating to USD 2,011.1, USD 220.7, USD 234.1, and USD 98.8, respectively. There was a positive association between the total cost and length of hospital stay (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The stroke unit complied with most of the main performance indicators proposed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Underfunding of the costs involved in the hospitalization of patients was verified, and high costs were associated with the length of stay, stroke severity, and mechanical thrombectomy.

To what extent does frailty mediate the association between age and the outcomes of brain reperfusion following acute ischemic stroke?

Objective: We evaluated the extent to which frailty mediated the association between age, poor functional outcomes, and mortality after acute ischemic stroke when patients were treated with brain reperfusion (thrombolytic therapy and/or thrombectomy). Materials and methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke who had undergone intravenous cerebral reperfusion therapy and/or mechanical thrombectomy. We created a mediation model by analyzing the direct natural effect of an mRS score > 2 and death on age-mediated frailty according to the Frailty Index. Results: We enrolled 292 patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent brain reperfusion. Their mean age was 67.7 ± 13.1 years. Ninety days after the stroke ictus, 54 (18.5%) participants died, and 83 (28.4%) lived with moderate to severe disability (2 < mRS < 6). In the mediation analysis of the composite outcome of disability (mRS score > 2) or death, frailty accounted for 28% of the total effect of age. The models used to test for the interaction between age and frailty did not show statistically significant interactions for either outcome, and the addition of the interaction did not significantly change the direct or indirect effects, nor did it improve model fit. Conclusion: Frailty mediated almost one-third of the effect of age on the composite outcome of disability or death after acute ischemic stroke.

Neurofibromatosis type 1, fibromuscular dysplasia, and ischemic stroke: an association lost in time? A case report.

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a rare cause of ischemic stroke (IS) in the general population. We report a case of a young patient with NF1 in whom IS was caused by fibromuscular dysplasia. An angiographic study demonstrated occlusion in the right internal carotid artery (ICA), just after its origin, and the left ICA, just before the intracranial portion, and brain magnetic resonance imaging showed the limits of an area of brain infarction in the right frontoparietal region. Despite these concomitant neuroimaging findings, this association is rare, and it is difficult to establish the contribution to the outcome made by each of these diseases, which treatment is the best to implement, or what prognosis is.

A neurofibromatose tipo 1 (NF1) é uma causa rara de acidente vascular cerebral isquêmico (AVCi) na população geral. Neste estudo, relatamos o caso de um paciente jovem com AVCi, com diagnóstico de NF1 associada a displasia fibromuscular. O estudo angiográfico demonstrou oclusão da carótida interna direita, logo após sua origem, e esquerda, antes da porção intracraniana. A ressonância magnética do encéfalo mostrou delimitação de um infarto na região frontoparietal direita. Apesar desses achados concomitantes na neuroimagem, essa associação é rara, sendo difícil de estabelecer a contribuição de cada uma dessas doenças no desfecho, tampouco qual o melhor tratamento a ser implementado e qual o prognóstico.

Clinical and Functional Outcomes of Patients Receiving Cerebral Reperfusion Therapy: A Stroke Databank Study in Brazil.

Objectives: Cerebral reperfusion therapy is recommended for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. However, the outcomes of patients receiving this therapy in middle- and low-income countries should be better defined. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and functional outcomes of cerebral reperfusion therapy in patients with ischemic stroke. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients with ischemic stroke treated with cerebral reperfusion therapy, including intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), mechanical thrombectomy (MT), and IVT with MT. The primary outcomes were death and disability, assessed using the modified Rankin scale (mRS), and stroke severity, assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), after intervention and 90 days after ictus. The association between the type of treatment and the primary outcome was assessed using binary logistic regression after adjusting for confounding variables. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to identify the cutoff point of the NIHSS score that could best discriminate the mRS score in all types of treatments. Results: Patients (n = 291) underwent IVT only (n = 241), MT (n = 21), or IVT with MT (n = 29). In the IVT with MT group, the incidence of death within 90 days increased by five times (OR, 5.192; 95% CI, 2.069-13.027; p = 0.000), prevalence of disability increased by three times (OR, 3.530; 95% CI, 1.376-9.055; p = 0.009) and NIHSS score increased after IVT (from 14.4 ± 6.85 to 17.8 ± 6.36; p = 0.045). There was no significant difference between the initial NIHSS score and that after MT (p = 0.989). Patients' NIHSS score that increased or decreased by 2.5 points had a sensitivity of 0.74 and specificity of 0.65, indicating severe disability or death in these patients. Conclusion: Altogether, a 2.5-point variation in NIHSS score after reperfusion is an indicator of worse outcomes. In our particular context, patients receiving the combination of IVT and MT had inferior results, which probably reflects challenges to optimize MT in LMIC.

Presentation of cerebral and cervical arterial dissections in Botucatu, Brazil: case series.

Spontaneous dissection of the cervical and cerebral arteries is an important cause of stroke and disability in young patients. In this report, the authors present a case series of patients with spontaneous carotid, vertebral, or cerebral artery dissection who underwent digital angiography. A review of the published literature on this subject is also presented.

A dissecção espontânea das artérias cervicais e cerebrais é uma causa importante de acidente vascular cerebral e incapacidade em pacientes jovens. Neste relato, é apresentada uma série de casos de pacientes com dissecção espontânea da artéria carótida, vertebral ou cerebral submetidos à angiografia digital. Além disso, é fornecida uma revisão da literatura sobre esse assunto.

The Impact of Age on Mortality and Disability in Patients With Ischemic Stroke Who Underwent Cerebral Reperfusion Therapy: A Brazilian Cohort Study.

Introduction: The main driver for increased stroke prevalence is the aging of the population; however, the best evidenced-based strategies for stroke treatment and prevention are not always followed for older patients. Therefore, the aim was studying the association of age with clinical outcomes (mortality and functional disability) in stroke patients who underwent cerebral reperfusion therapy at hospital discharge and 90 days after ictus. Methods: This was a retrospective (stroke databank analysis) cohort study of participants who had been diagnosed with ischemic stroke and undergone intravenous cerebral reperfusion therapy or mechanical thrombectomy. The variable of interest was patient age, which was categorized into four groups: (1) up to 59 years; (2) 60 to 69 years; (3) 70 to 79 years old; and (4) above 79 years. The primary outcome was mortality at hospital discharge and 90 days after stroke, and the secondary outcome was functional capacity at hospital discharge and 90 days after stroke. Results: A total of 281 patients was included in the study (235 treated by thrombolysis alone, and 46 treated with mechanical thrombectomy). The mean age of the total sample was 67 ± 13.1 years. The oldest patients had the most unfavorable outcomes, except for mortality rate, at hospital discharge (mRS > 2; OR: 1.028; 95% CI 1.005 to 1.051; p = 0.017; mRS > 3; OR: 1.043, 95% CI 1.018 to 1.069; p = 0.001) and 90 days after stroke (mRS > 2; OR: 1.028; 95% CI 1.005 to 1.051; p = 0.017; mRS > 3; OR: 1.043, 95% CI 1.018 to 1.069; p = 0.001). Conclusion: Cerebral reperfusion was a viable treatment for ischemic stroke in both elderly and very elderly patients, as it did not increase mortality. However, it was observed that older individuals had worse functional outcomes at hospital discharge and 90 days after stroke.

Relationship of spontaneous microembolic signals to risk stratification, recurrence, severity, and mortality of ischemic stroke: a prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: The presence of microembolic signals (MES) during the acute phase of stroke is poorly understood, and its role and clinical application in relation to risk stratification and prognosis in patients remain uncertain. We assessed the prevalence of spontaneous MES in acute stroke and their relationship with risk stratification, stroke recurrence, morbidity, and mortality. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study conducted in the Stroke Unit. The MES presence was evaluated by transcranial Doppler (TCD) in patients with ischemic stroke within 48 h. The outcomes (risk stratification, morbidity, mortality, and recurrence of a stroke) were followed up for 6 months. The relationship between risk stratification and MES was obtained by odds ratios and that between MES and stroke recurrence, morbidity, and mortality using multiple logistic regression; considering statistical significance at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Of the 111 patients studied, 70 were men (63.1%) and 90 were white (81.1%), with a median age of 68 years. The MES frequency was 7%. There was a significant relationship between MES and symptomatic carotid disease (OR = 22.7; 95% CI 4.1-125.7; P < 0.001), a shorter time to monitoring (OR = 12.4; 95% CI 1.4-105.4; P = 0.02), and stroke recurrence (OR = 16.83; 95% CI 2.01-141; P = .009). DISCUSSION: It was observed that the stroke recurrence adjusted for prior stroke was higher and earlier among patients with MES detection. In conclusion, MES demonstrated a significant correlation with symptomatic carotid disease and a shorter DELAY until monitoring, and could be a predictor for the early recurrence of stroke in the long term.

Ischemic stroke enhancement using a variational model and the expectation maximization method.

OBJECTIVES: In order to enable less experienced physicians to reliably detect early signs of stroke, A novel approach was proposed to enhance the visual perception of ischemic stroke in non-enhanced CT. METHODS: A set of 39 retrospective CT scans were used, divided into 23 cases of acute ischemic stroke and 16 normal patients. Stroke cases were obtained within 4.5 h of symptom onset and with a mean NIHSS of 12.9±7.4. After selection of adjunct slices from the CT exam, image averaging was performed to reduce the noise and redundant information. This was followed by a variational decomposition model to keep the relevant component of the image. The expectation maximization method was applied to generate enhanced images. RESULTS: We determined a test to evaluate the performance of observers in a clinical environment with and without the aid of enhanced images. The overall sensitivity of the observer's analysis was 64.5 % and increased to 89.6 % and specificity was 83.3 % and increased to 91.7 %. CONCLUSION: These results show the importance of a computational tool to assist neuroradiology decisions, especially in critical situations such as the diagnosis of ischemic stroke. KEY POINTS: • Diagnosing patients with stroke requires high efficiency to avoid irreversible cerebral damage. • A computational algorithm was proposed to enhance the visual perception of stroke. • Observers' performance was increased with the aid of enhanced images.

Efficiency of personal dosimetry methods in vascular interventional radiology.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to determine the efficiency of six methods for calculate the effective dose (E) that is received by health professionals during vascular interventional procedures. METHODS: We evaluated the efficiency of six methods that are currently used to estimate professionals' E, based on national and international recommendations for interventional radiology. Equivalent doses on the head, neck, chest, abdomen, feet, and hands of seven professionals were monitored during 50 vascular interventional radiology procedures. Professionals' E was calculated for each procedure according to six methods that are commonly employed internationally. To determine the best method, a more efficient E calculation method was used to determine the reference value (reference E) for comparison. RESULTS: The highest equivalent dose were found for the hands (0.34±0.93mSv). The two methods that are described by Brazilian regulations overestimated E by approximately 100% and 200%. The more efficient method was the one that is recommended by the United States National Council on Radiological Protection and Measurements (NCRP). The mean and median differences of this method relative to reference E were close to 0%, and its standard deviation was the lowest among the six methods. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the most precise method was the one that is recommended by the NCRP, which uses two dosimeters (one over and one under protective aprons). The use of methods that employ at least two dosimeters are more efficient and provide better information regarding estimates of E and doses for shielded and unshielded regions.

Stroke as the First Clinical Manifestation of Takayasu's Arteritis.

Takayasu's arteritis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and neurological symptoms occur in 50% of cases, most commonly including headache, dizziness, visual disturbances, convulsive crisis, transient ischemic attack, stroke and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. The aim of this study was to report the case of a young Brazilian female with a focal neurological deficit. She presented with asymmetry of brachial and radial pulses, aphasia, dysarthria and right hemiplegia. Stroke was investigated extensively in this young patient. Only nonspecific inflammatory markers such as velocity of hemosedimentation and C-reactive protein were elevated. During hospitalization, clinical treatment was performed with pulse therapy showing improvement in neurological recuperation on subsequent days. In the chronic phase, the patient was submitted to medicated angioplasty of the brachiocephalic trunk with paclitaxel, with significant improvement of the stenosis. At the 6-month follow-up, the neurological exam presented mild dysarthria, faciobrachial predominant disproportionate hemiparesis, an NIHSS score of 4 and a modified Rankin Scale score of 3 (moderate incapacity). In conclusion, Takayasu's arteritis must be recognized as a potential cause of ischemic stroke in young females.

Iatrogenic cortical aneurysm post-craniotomy.

Taking into account the number of craniotomies performed every day around the world, iatrogenic aneurysm post-craniotomy is extremely rare with only anecdotal cases reported in literature. We report an iatrogenic aneurysm affecting a cortical vessel which probably developed during dural closure of a conventional craniotomy. The aneurysm was discovered 6 months after surgery on a routine control angiography. The patient was successfully treated by trapping the parent vessel and excising the aneurysm. Histopathological findings were compatible with a true type of traumatic aneurysm. The possibility of this rare condition occurring highlights the risk of arterial injury during craniotomy.