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Browsing by Author "Sacco, S"

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  • Basilar Artery Occlusion Management: Specialist Perspectives From an International Survey
    Publication . Edwards, C; Drumm, B; Siegler, J; Schonewille, W; Klein, P; Huo, X; Chen, Y; Abdalkader, M; Qureshi, M; Strbian, D; Liu, X; Hu, W; Ji, X; Li, C; Fischer, U; Nagel, S; Puetz, V; Michel, P; Alemseged, F; Sacco, S; Yamagami, H; Yaghi, S; Strambo, D; Kristoffersen, E; Sandset, E; Mikulik, R; Tsivgoulis, G; Masoud, H; Aguiar de Sousa, D; Marto, JP; Lobotesis, K; Roi, D; Berberich, A; Demeestere, J; Meinel, T; Rivera, R; Poli, S; Ton, M; Zhu, Y; Li, F; Sang, H; Thomalla, G; Parsons, M; Campbell, B; Zaidat, O; Chen, HS; Field, T; Raymond, J; Kaesmacher, J; Nogueira, R; Jovin, T; Sun, D; Liu, R; Qureshi, A; Qiu, Z; Miao, Z; Banerjee, S; Nguyen, T
    Background and purpose: Two early basilar artery occlusion (BAO) randomized controlled trials did not establish the superiority of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) over medical management. While many providers continue to recommend EVT for acute BAO, perceptions of equipoise in randomizing patients with BAO to EVT versus medical management may differ between clinician specialties. Methods: We conducted an international survey (January 18, 2022 to March 31, 2022) regarding management strategies in acute BAO prior to the announcement of two trials indicating the superiority of EVT, and compared responses between interventionalists (INTs) and non-interventionalists (nINTs). Selection practices for routine EVT and perceptions of equipoise regarding randomizing to medical management based on neuroimaging and clinical features were compared between the two groups using descriptive statistics. Results: Among the 1245 respondents (nINTs = 702), INTs more commonly believed that EVT was superior to medical management in acute BAO (98.5% vs. 95.1%, p < .01). A similar proportion of INTs and nINTs responded that they would not randomize a patient with BAO to EVT (29.4% vs. 26.7%), or that they would only under specific clinical circumstances (p = .45). Among respondents who would recommend EVT for BAO, there was no difference in the maximum prestroke disability, minimum stroke severity, or infarct burden on computed tomography between the two groups (p > .05), although nINTs more commonly preferred perfusion imaging (24.2% vs. 19.7%, p = .04). Among respondents who indicated they would randomize to medical management, INTs were more likely to randomize when the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was ≥10 (15.9% vs. 6.9%, p < .01). Conclusions: Following the publication of two neutral clinical trials in BAO EVT, most stroke providers believed EVT to be superior to medical management in carefully selected patients, with most indicating they would not randomize a BAO patient to medical treatment. There were small differences in preference for advanced neuroimaging for patient selection, although these preferences were unsupported by clinical trial data at the time of the survey.
    2023Journal article Open access Show more
  • Early Anticoagulation in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke Due to Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
    Publication . Palaiodimou, L; Stefanou, MI; Katsanos, AH; Paciaroni, M; Sacco, S; De Marchis, GM; Shoamanesh, A; Malhotra, K; Aguiar de Sousa, D; Lambadiari, V; Kantzanou, M; Vassilopoulou, S; Toutouzas, K; Filippou, DK; Seiffge, DJ; Tsivgoulis, G
    Introduction: There is uncertainty regarding the optimal timing for initiation of oral anticoagulation in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) and prospective observational studies to assess the efficacy and safety of early anticoagulation in AF-related AIS (within 1 week versus 2 weeks). A second comparison was performed assessing the efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) versus vitamin-K antagonists (VKAs) in the two early time windows. The outcomes of interest were IS recurrence, all-cause mortality, symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage (sICH) and any ICH. Results: Eight eligible studies (6 observational, 2 RCTs) were identified, including 5616 patients with AF-related AIS who received early anticoagulation. Patients that received anticoagulants within the first week after index stroke had similar rate of recurrent IS, sICH and all-cause mortality compared to patients that received anticoagulation within two weeks (test for subgroup differences p = 0.1677; p = 0.8941; and p = 0.7786, respectively). When DOACs were compared to VKAs, there was a significant decline of IS recurrence in DOAC-treated patients compared to VKAs (RR: 0.65; 95%CI: 0.52-0.82), which was evident in both time windows of treatment initiation. DOACs were also associated with lower likelihood of sICH and all-cause mortality. Conclusions: Early initiation of anticoagulation within the first week may have a similar efficacy and safety profile compared to later anticoagulation (within two weeks), while DOACs seem more effective in terms of IS recurrence and survival compared to VKAs.
    2022Journal article Open access Show more