[ARTICLE] Early Depression Independently of Other Neuropsychiatric Conditions, Influences Disability and Mortality after Stroke (Research Study—Part of PROPOLIS Study) – Full Text

Abstract

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is the most frequent neuropsychiatric consequence of stroke. The nature of the relationship between PSD and mortality still remains unknown. One hypothesis is that PSD could be more frequent in those patients who are more vulnerable to physical disability, a mediator variable for higher level of physical damage related to higher risk of mortality. Therefore, the authors’ objective was to explore the assumption that PSD increases disability after stroke, and secondly, that mortality is higher among patients with PSD regardless of stroke severity and other neuropsychiatric conditions. We included 524 consecutive patients with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack, who were screened for depression between 7–10 days after stroke onset. Physical impairment and death were the outcomes measures at evaluation check points three and 12 months post-stroke. PSD independently increased the level of disability three (OR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.31–2.87, p = 0.001), and 12 months post-stroke (OR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.14–2.48, p = 0.009). PSD was also an independent risk factor for death three (OR = 5.68, 95% CI 1.58–20.37, p = 0.008) and 12 months after stroke (OR = 4.53, 95% CI 2.06–9.94, p = 0.001). Our study shows the negative impact of early PSD on the level of disability and survival rates during first year after stroke and supports the assumption that depression may act as an independent mediator for disability leading to death in patients who are more vulnerable for brain injury. 

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[Magazine] Brain Injury Professional: Brain Injury as a Chronic Condition Current State of the Knowledge – issuu

About this issue
In this edition, Drs. Corrigan and Dam-O’Connor summarize the current state of knowledge with respect to TBI as a chronic health condition and selected topical articles that present evidence-based and clinically-supported answers for those who wonder how they can be in the group that continues to recover, grow, and thrive. The edition authors discussed the power of resilience and how to build it, strategies for vocational success (not just how to get a job, but how to keep it!), and specific strategies for health self management.

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[ARTICLE] Seizures Do Not Affect Disability and Mortality Outcomes of Stroke: A Population-Based Study – Full Text

Abstract

Although seizures are frequently seen after cerebrovascular accidents, their effects on long-term outcome in stroke patients are still unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between post-stroke seizures and the risk of long-term disability and mortality in stroke patients. This study is part of a larger population-based study. All patients were prospectively followed up by a face-to-face interview or a structured telephone interview. We enrolled 635 patients with first-ever stroke and without a history of seizures. Prevalence of ischemic stroke (IS) was 85.2%, while the remaining 14.8% of patients were affected by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). During the study period, 51 subjects (8%) developed post-stroke seizures. Patients with post-stroke seizures were younger, had a higher prevalence of ICH, had a more severe stroke at admission, were more likely to have an IS involving the total anterior circulation, and were more likely to have a lobar ICH than patients without seizures. Moreover, subjects with seizures had more frequently hemorrhagic transformation after IS and cortical strokes. At 24 months, the risk of disability in patients with seizures was almost twice than in those without seizures. However, the negative effect of seizures disappeared in multivariate analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves at 12 years were not significantly different between patients with and without post-stroke seizures. Using the Cox multivariate analysis, age, NIHSS at admission, and pre-stroke mRS were independently associated with all-cause long-term mortality. In our sample, seizures did not impair long-term outcome in patients affected by cerebrovascular accidents. The not significant, slight difference in favor of a better survival for patients with seizures may be attributed to the slight age difference between the two groups.

1. Introduction

Seizures are frequently seen after cerebrovascular accidents. Acute symptomatic or early seizures (ES) affect between 3% and 6% of all stroke patients [1,2,3,4,5,6], whereas unprovoked or late seizures (LS) have been reported in 10 to 12% of stroke patients [7,8].

Although determinants and correlates of ES and LS after stroke have been largely investigated [1,6,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17], the effect of seizures on long-term outcome in stroke patients is still unknown. In fact, previous studies focused their interest on short-term mortality [2,12,18,19,20,21,22], and only a few of them reported results on disability that was assessed only at discharge [13,18,19,21,22].

Recently, Claessens et al. conducted a retrospective study to explore a possible association between post-stroke seizures and long-term mortality. After correction for possible confounding variables, the authors concluded that seizures were not significantly related to mortality risk [23]. Conversely, in the prospective Future study, Arntz et al. showed that post-stroke seizures negatively affect long-term disability and mortality [24,25]. Differences in the population study might explain these conflicting findings. In particular, Claessens et al. included only patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), whereas Arntz et al. included only young patients, aged 18 to 50 years, after transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic stroke (IS) or ICH [23,24,25]. Bearing in mind that ICH accounts for almost 15% of all strokes and that cerebrovascular accidents are largely more common in subjects older than 50 years, these results cannot be directly generalizable to all stroke patients.

Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between post-stroke seizures and the risk of long-term disability and mortality in patients affected by cerebrovascular accidents.[…]

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[ARTICLE] Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury in Europe: A Living Systematic Review – Full Text

ABSTRACT

This systematic review provides a comprehensive, up-to-date summary of traumatic brain injury (TBI) epidemiology in Europe, describing incidence, mortality, age, and sex distribution, plus severity, mechanism of injury, and time trends. PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched in January 2015 for observational, descriptive, English language studies reporting incidence, mortality, or case fatality of TBI in Europe. There were no limitations according to date, age, or TBI severity. Methodological quality was assessed using the Methodological Evaluation of Observational Research checklist. Data were presented narratively. Sixty-six studies were included in the review. Country-level data were provided in 22 studies, regional population or treatment center catchment area data were reported by 44 studies. Crude incidence rates varied widely. For all ages and TBI severities, crude incidence rates ranged from 47.3 per 100,000, to 694 per 100,000 population per year (country-level studies) and 83.3 per 100,000, to 849 per 100,000 population per year (regional-level studies). Crude mortality rates ranged from 9 to 28.10 per 100,000 population per year (country-level studies), and 3.3 to 24.4 per 100,000 population per year (regional-level studies.) The most common mechanisms of injury were traffic accidents and falls. Over time, the contribution of traffic accidents to total TBI events may be reducing. Case ascertainment and definitions of TBI are variable. Improved standardization would enable more accurate comparisons.

Introduction

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is among the most severe types of injury in terms of both case fatality¹ and long-term implications for survivors.² Treatment of TBI can be complex and expensive.³ Upon clinical examination, TBI is most commonly sub-divided into mild, moderate, and severe, according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS).^4,5 Such categories have been found to be predictive of a patient’s long-term outcome,⁶ although other measures and models also have been tested.^7,8

A previous review of the epidemiology of TBI in Europe concluded that the leading causes of TBI were road traffic collisions, and falls.³ Consequently, in a densely populated and economically advanced area such as the European Union (EU), the potential for prevention of morbidity and mortality is great. The variability in incidence and mechanism of TBI, which may be observed on this mainly contiguous land-mass with a well-developed road network, is also of scientific interest, as it may lead to better prevention of TBI. Countries within the EU adhere to certain multi-national laws and agreements, but nonetheless retain their own law-making and enforcement responsibilities.⁹ This may add further complexity to the understanding of TBI epidemiology, for example, in the contributions of varying road speed limits or the legal restrictions on the availability of firearms. More generally, the issues relating to the contemporary demographic and lifestyle characteristics of the similar countries or regions suggest that epidemiological trends from EU countries also may be applicable to other high income countries.

Considerable variability has been observed between national rates, largely attributable to significant variability in data collection, case ascertainment, and case definition. This has led to calls for standardized definitions and data collection in population-based studies, and an associated paradigm shift in studying TBI and its impact.^10–12

In order to improve the understanding of causes of TBI and the scale of the problem, it is important to analyze the current situation and time trends, using good quality comparable observational studies. One comprehensive systematic review of the epidemiology of TBI in Europe was published nearly ten years ago.³ A recent systematic review,¹³ published as a follow-up to Tagliaferri (2006),³ addresses similar issues but was more restrictive in dates of publication (1990–2014) and has not been set up as a “living” systematic review (i.e., it is not expected that it will be kept up-to-date as new research is published).¹³

The overall objective of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date summary of TBI epidemiology in Europe by reviewing all relevant observational studies. Specific aims were to determine the incidence, mortality, age, and sex distribution of TBI in Europe, along with the severity and mechanism of injury and time trends. […]

 

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