Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (14)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (14) (remove)
Year of publication
Document Type
- Journal article (13)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Keywords
- ischemic stroke (14) (remove)
Institute
- Institut für Klinische Epidemiologie und Biometrie (14) (remove)
EU-Project number / Contract (GA) number
- 223153 (1)
Background
Telemedicine improves the quality of acute stroke care in rural regions with limited access to specialized stroke care. We report the first 2 years' experience of implementing a comprehensive telemedical stroke network comprising all levels of stroke care in a defined region.
Methods
The TRANSIT-Stroke network covers a mainly rural region in north-western Bavaria (Germany). All hospitals providing acute stroke care in this region participate in TRANSIT-Stroke, including four hospitals with a supra-regional certified stroke unit (SU) care (level III), three of those providing teleconsultation to two hospitals with a regional certified SU (level II) and five hospitals without specialized SU care (level I). For a two-year-period (01/2015 to 12/2016), data of eight of these hospitals were available; 13 evidence-based quality indicators (QIs) related to processes during hospitalisation were evaluated quarterly and compared according to predefined target values between level-I- and level-II/III-hospitals.
Results
Overall, 7881 patients were included (mean age 74.6 years +/- 12.8; 48.4% female). In level-II/III-hospitals adherence of all QIs to predefined targets was high ab initio. In level-I-hospitals, three patterns of QI-development were observed: a) high adherence ab initio (31%), mainly in secondary stroke prevention; b) improvement over time (44%), predominantly related to stroke specific diagnosis and in-hospital organization; c) no clear time trends (25%). Overall, 10 out of 13 QIs reached predefined target values of quality of care at the end of the observation period.
Conclusion
The implementation of the comprehensive TRANSIT-Stroke network resulted in an improvement of quality of care in level-I-hospitals.
Beinahe jeder dritte ischämische Schlaganfall ist ursächlich auf Erkrankungen des Herzens zurückzuführen. Daher empfehlen Leitlinien allen Patienten und Patientinnen, bei denen eine kardioembolische Ätiologie des Schlaganfalls vermutet wird und bei denen ein Vorhofflimmern nicht bereits bekannt ist, als Teil der Routinediagnostik eine echokardiographische Untersuchung, um Hinweise auf die Ätiologie des ischämischen Schlaganfalls zu gewinnen und um gegebenenfalls Maßnahmen zur Sekundärprävention einleiten zu können. Jedoch ist der Zugang zu solchen echokardiographischen Untersuchungen oftmals limitiert, besonders für Patienten und Patientinnen auf Stroke Units, denn dort überschreitet die Nachfrage häufig die verfügbaren personellen und instrumentellen Kapazitäten. Zudem stellt der Transport bettlägeriger Patienten und Patientinnen in andere Abteilungen eine Belastung dar.
Daher stellt sich die Frage, ob zukünftig im Rahmen wissenschaftlicher Studien POC-Echokardiographie-Geräte zur Diagnostik bestimmter Herzerkrankungen einschließlich einer systolischen Dysfunktion bei Patienten und Patientinnen mit ischämischem Schlaganfall eingesetzt werden können, mit dem Ziel Patienten und Patientinnen zu identifizieren, die von einer erweiterten echokardiographischen Untersuchung profitieren könnten. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden prospektiven Validierungsstudie untersuchte eine Studentin 78 Patienten und Patientinnen mit akutem ischämischem Schlaganfall mithilfe eines POC-Echokardiographie-Geräts auf der Stroke Unit der Neurologischen Abteilung des Universitätsklinikums Würzburg. Im Anschluss daran erhielten alle 78 Patienten und Patientinnen eine Kontrolluntersuchung durch eine erfahrene Echokardiographie-Raterin mithilfe eines SE-Geräts in einem externen Herzzentrum.
Die diagnostischen Qualitäten des POC-Echokardiographie-Geräts für Forschungszwecke zur fokussierten kardialen Diagnostik nach ischämischem Schlaganfall im Vergleich zu einer SE-Untersuchung konnten mithilfe der Validierungsstudie bestätigt werden. Es zeigte sich insbesondere, dass die POC-Echokardiographie für die Detektion einer LVEF≤55% mit einer Sensitivität von 100% geeignet war.
Um zu evaluieren, ob sich das POC-Echokardiographie-Gerät in Zukunft auch in der klinischen Praxis als Screeninginstrument eignet, mit dem Ziel eine individuelle Behandlung von Schlaganfallpatienten und -patientinnen zu gewährleisten, müssen größere, prospektive Studien durchgeführt werden, in denen die Fallzahl für bestimmte kardiologische Erkrankungen ausreichend hoch ist.
Background and Purpose: Internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS)≥70% is a leading cause of ischemic cerebrovascular events (ICVEs). However, a considerable percentage of stroke survivors with symptomatic ICAS (sICAS) have <70% stenosis with a vulnerable plaque. Whether the length of ICAS is associated with high risk of ICVEs is poorly investigated. Our main aim was to investigate the relation between the length of ICAS and the development of ICVEs.
Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study, we identified 95 arteries with sICAS and another 64 with asymptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis (aICAS) among 121 patients with ICVEs. The degree and length of ICAS as well as plaque echolucency were assessed on ultrasound scans.
Results: A statistically significant inverse correlation between the ultrasound-measured length and degree of ICAS was detected for sICAS≥70% (Spearman correlation coefficient ρ = –0.57, p < 0.001, n = 51) but neither for sICAS<70% (ρ = 0.15, p = 0.45, n = 27) nor for aICAS (ρ = 0.07, p = 0.64, n = 54). The median (IQR) length for sICAS<70% and ≥70% was 17 (15–20) and 15 (12–19) mm (p = 0.06), respectively, while that for sICAS<90% and sICAS 90% was 18 (15–21) and 13 (10–16) mm, respectively (p < 0.001). Among patients with ICAS <70%, a cut-off length of ≥16 mm was found for sICAS rather than aICAS with a sensitivity and specificity of 74.1% and 51.1%, respectively. Irrespective of the stenotic degree, plaques of the sICAS compared to aICAS were significantly more often echolucent (43.2 vs. 24.6%, p = 0.02).
Conclusion: We found a statistically insignificant tendency for the ultrasound-measured length of sICAS<70% to be longer than that of sICAS≥70%. Moreover, the ultrasound-measured length of sICAS<90% was significantly longer than that of sICAS 90%. Among patients with sICAS≥70%, the degree and length of stenosis were inversely correlated. Larger studies are needed before a clinical implication can be drawn from these results.
Background and purpose
Improving understanding of study contents and procedures might enhance recruitment into studies and retention during follow-up. However, data in stroke patients on understanding of the informed consent (IC) procedure are sparse.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study among ischemic stroke patients taking part in the IC procedure of an ongoing cluster-randomized secondary prevention trial. All aspects of the IC procedure were assessed in an interview using a standardized 20-item questionnaire. Responses were collected within 72 h after the IC procedure and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Participants were also asked their main reasons for participation.
Results
A total of 146 stroke patients (65 ± 12 years old, 38% female) were enrolled. On average, patients recalled 66.4% (95% confidence interval = 65.2%–67.5%) of the content of the IC procedure. Most patients understood that participation was voluntary (99.3%) and that they had the right to withdraw consent (97.1%); 79.1% of the patients recalled the study duration and 56.1% the goal. Only 40.3% could clearly state a benefit of participation, and 28.8% knew their group allocation. Younger age, higher graduation, and allocation to the intervention group were associated with better understanding. Of all patients, 53% exclusively stated a personal and 22% an altruistic reason for participation.
Conclusions
Whereas understanding of patient rights was high, many patients were unable to recall other important aspects of study content and procedures. Increased attention to older and less educated patients may help to enhance understanding in this patient population. Actual recruitment and retention benefit of an improved IC procedure remains to be tested in a randomized trial.