0000000000209998

AUTHOR

Alessandro Pezzini

Safety and Outcome of Revascularization Treatment in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and COVID-19: The Global COVID-19 Stroke Registry.

Background and ObjectivesCOVID-19–related inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and coagulopathy may increase the bleeding risk and lower the efficacy of revascularization treatments in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We aimed to evaluate the safety and outcomes of revascularization treatments in patients with AIS and COVID-19.MethodsThis was a retrospective multicenter cohort study of consecutive patients with AIS receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and/or endovascular treatment (EVT) between March 2020 and June 2021 tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. With a doubly robust model combining propensity score weighting and multivariate regress…

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Association of prestroke metformin use, stroke severity, and thrombolysis outcome

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether pretreatment with metformin (MET) is associated with less stroke severity and better outcome after IV thrombolysis (IVT), we analyzed a cohort of 1,919 patients with stroke with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a multicenter exploratory analysis.MethodsData from patients with diabetes and ischemic stroke treated with IVT were collected within the European Thrombolysis in Ischemic Stroke Patients (TRISP) collaboration. We applied propensity score matching (PSM) to obtain balanced baseline characteristics of patients treated with and without MET.ResultsOf 1,919 patients with stroke with type 2 diabetes who underwent IVT, 757 (39%) had received MET before stroke (MET+),…

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Recurrent Ischemic Stroke and Bleeding in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Who Suffered an Acute Stroke While on Treatment With Nonvitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants: The RENO-EXTEND Study.

Background: In patients with atrial fibrillation who suffered an ischemic stroke while on treatment with nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants, rates and determinants of recurrent ischemic events and major bleedings remain uncertain. Methods: This prospective multicenter observational study aimed to estimate the rates of ischemic and bleeding events and their determinants in the follow-up of consecutive patients with atrial fibrillation who suffered an acute cerebrovascular ischemic event while on nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant treatment. Afterwards, we compared the estimated risks of ischemic and bleeding events between the patients in whom anticoagulant therapy was chan…

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Cardiac sources of cerebral embolism in people with migraine

Background and purpose Whether the reported association between migraine with aura (MA) and cardioembolic stroke may be explained by a higher rate of atrial fibrillation (AF) or by other potential cardiac sources of cerebral embolism remains to be determined.Methods In the setting of a single centre cohort study of consecutive patients with acute brain ischaemia stratified by migraine status, the association between AF as well as patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraine was explored.Results In all, 1738 patients (1017 [58.5%] men, mean age 67.9 +/- 14.9 years) qualified for the analysis. Aging was inversely associated with migraine, whilst women had a >3-fold increased disease risk (odds …

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Migraine mediates the influence of C677T MTHFR genotypes on ischemic stroke risk with a stroke-subtype effect.

Background and Purpose— The objective was to investigate the role of C677T MTHFR polymorphism in migraine pathogenesis and in the migraine–ischemic stroke pathway. Methods— A first genotype–migraine association study was conducted on 100 patients with migraine with aura (MA), 106 with migraine without aura (MO), and 105 subjects without migraine, which provided evidence in favor of association of the TT677 MTHFR genotype with increased risk of MA compared with both control subjects (OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.11 to 5.58) and patients with MO (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.01 to 4.82). Based on these findings, mediational models of the genotype–migraine–stroke pathway were fitted on a group of 106 patients …

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Common variation in PHACTR1 is associated with susceptibility to cervical artery dissection

Item does not contain fulltext Cervical artery dissection (CeAD), a mural hematoma in a carotid or vertebral artery, is a major cause of ischemic stroke in young adults although relatively uncommon in the general population (incidence of 2.6/100,000 per year). Minor cervical traumas, infection, migraine and hypertension are putative risk factors, and inverse associations with obesity and hypercholesterolemia are described. No confirmed genetic susceptibility factors have been identified using candidate gene approaches. We performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in 1,393 CeAD cases and 14,416 controls. The rs9349379[G] allele (PHACTR1) was associated with lower CeAD risk (odds ratio…

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Recanalization Therapies in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Impact of Prior Treatment With Novel Oral Anticoagulants on Bleeding Complications and Outcome A Pilot Study

Background— We explored the safety of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) or intra-arterial treatment (IAT) in patients with ischemic stroke on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs, last intake <48 hours) in comparison with patients (1) taking vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) or (2) without previous anticoagulation (no-OAC). Methods and Results— This is a multicenter cohort pilot study. Primary outcome measures were (1) occurrence of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in 3 categories: any ICH (ICH any ), symptomatic ICH according to the criteria of the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study II (ECASS-II) (sICH ECASS-II ) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke …

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Internal carotid artery dissection in a patient with hemophilia A: a case report and literature review

Spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCeAD) is the most common cause of ischemic stroke at a young age, but its pathogenetic mechanism and risk factors are not fully elucidated. It is reasonable to think that bleeding propensity, vascular risk factors such as hypertension and head or neck trauma, and constitutional weakness of the arterial wall together play a role in the pathogenesis of sCeAD. Hemophilia A is known to be an X-linked condition that leads to spontaneous bleeding in various tissues and organs. To date, a few cases of acute arterial dissection in patients with hemophilia have been reported, but the relationship between these two diseases has not been studied so far. In addi…

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Risk Factors for Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation on Non–Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants for Stroke Prevention

Background and Purpose: Clinical trials on stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation have consistently shown clinical benefit from either warfarin or non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs). NOAC-treated patients have consistently reported to be at lower risk for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) than warfarin-treated patients. The aims of this prospective, multicenter, multinational, unmatched, case-control study were (1) to investigate for risk factors that could predict ICH occurring in patients with atrial fibrillation during NOAC treatment and (2) to evaluate the role of CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc and HAS-BLED scores in the same setting. Methods: Cases were consecutive pa…

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Intravenous Thrombolysis in Patients Dependent on the Daily Help of Others Before Stroke

Background and Purpose— We compared outcome and complications in patients with stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) who could not live alone without help of another person before stroke (dependent patients) versus independent ones. Methods— In a multicenter IVT-register–based cohort study, we compared previously dependent (prestroke modified Rankin Scale score, 3–5) versus independent (prestroke modified Rankin Scale score, 0–2) patients. Outcome measures were poor 3-month outcome (not reaching at least prestroke modified Rankin Scale [dependent patients]; modified Rankin Scale score of 3–6 [independent patients]), death, and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Unadjusted an…

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Non-office-hours admission affects intravenous thrombolysis treatment times and clinical outcome

In patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), an unfavourable ‘non-office-hours effect’ on door-to-needle time (DNT) and clinical outcome has been suggested. This effect has been attributed to a number of factors, mostly related to either less efficient logistics or less (experienced) staffing during non-office hours (NH). These factors could result in longer DNTs and more protocol violations and thus in worse clinical outcome. On the other hand, one could also argue that the workload during NH is lower, which could result in less time delays in the various diagnostic processes and thus in better clinical outcome. Our hypothesis is that admission during NH has a negative effect o…

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Association of vascular risk factors with cervical artery dissection and ischemic stroke in young adults.

Background— Little is known about the risk factors for cervical artery dissection (CEAD), a major cause of ischemic stroke (IS) in young adults. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity are important risk factors for IS. However, their specific role in CEAD is poorly investigated. Our aim was to compare the prevalence of vascular risk factors in CEAD patients versus referents and patients who suffered an IS of a cause other than CEAD (non-CEAD IS) in the multicenter Cervical Artery Dissection and Ischemic Stroke Patients (CADISP) study. Methods and Results— The study sample comprised 690 CEAD patients (mean age, 44.2±9.9 years; 43.9% women), 556 patients …

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