Tip Titles:                                      

• Head, neck injuries may increase stroke risk among trauma patients younger than 50
• Stroke emergency mobile increases timely delivery of clot-busting treatment in Germany
• Stroke linked to immediate, persistent declines in mental ability
• Stroke patients’ hand function improves when targeted brain stimulation added to therapy
• Hispanic stroke patients less likely to receive clot-busting drugs in border state hospitals
• Stroke survivors often return to driving without being evaluated for ability

(NewMediaWire) - February 13, 2014 - NOTE ALL TIMES ARE PACIFIC (PT). ALL TIPS ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL THE TIME OF PRESENTATION OR 3 P.M. PT/6 P.M. ET EACH DAY, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. For more information Feb. 12-14, call the ASA News Media Staff Office at the San Diego Convention Center at (619) 525-6204. Before or after these dates, call the Communications Office in Dallas at (214) 706-1173. For public inquiries, call (800) AHA-USA1 (242-8721).

 

8 a.m. PT – Abstract TMP66 (Room Hall G)

(This news tip is also part of a news conference at 8 a.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 13.)

The news tip contains updated numbers not in the abstract.

Head, neck injuries may increase stroke risk among trauma patients younger than 50

Suffering an injury to the head or neck increases ischemic stroke risk three-fold among trauma patients younger than 50, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014.

“These findings are important because strokes after trauma might be preventable,” said Christine Fox, M.D., M.A.S., lead author and assistant professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco.

Researchers studied the health records of 1.3 million patients younger than 50 years who had been treated in emergency trauma rooms. About 11 of every 100,000 patients (145) suffered a stroke within four weeks. Since 2 million patients are seen in U.S. trauma rooms each month, this suggests 214 young people a month have an ischemic stroke after a trauma.

Researchers also noted that:

• About 48 in 100,000 young adults and 11 of 100,000 children who had a head or neck injury had a stroke.
• Patients with stroke were an average 37 years old, while those who didn’t have a stroke were an average 24.

One cause of stroke after trauma is a tear in the head or neck blood vessels that lead to the brain, which can be a source of blood clots that cause a stroke. If a tear in these arteries can be diagnosed at the time of the trauma, a patient could be treated with an anti-clotting medicine to help prevent stroke. In the study, 10 percent of the people who had a stroke were diagnosed with this kind of tear, but not all the patients were diagnosed with it prior to stroke.

The incidence rate of stroke among trauma patients found in this study was determined using a fairly broad definition of trauma. One of the next steps in the study will be to measure stroke incidence after different types of trauma (such as car collisions) and injuries (such as vertebral fractures) in order to determine who might be at higher stroke risk, Fox said.

Note: Actual presentation is 5:40 p.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014.

(A video interview with an ASA expert is on the right column of this link.)

 

8 a.m. PT – Abstract 104 (Room 30A-D)

Stroke emergency mobile increases timely delivery of clot-busting treatment in Germany

Pre-hospital administration of clot busting treatment in a specialized stroke emergency mobile made it ten times more likely than in conventional care that patients received clot-busting medication within 60 minutes of stroke onset, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014.

The study compared weeks of ambulance calls made by a stroke emergency mobile unit, equipped with a computed tomography scanner and staffed with a neurologist trained in emergency medicine, paramedic and technician, to weeks of calls with a conventional ambulance.

Among the findings:

• Patients who received clot-busting treatment within 60 minutes were nearly two times more likely to be discharged home, compared to patients who were treated later.
• Treatment started within the first hour of stroke onset or in the stroke emergency mobile did not result in any higher risk of death in the first week and first three months after treatment.

 

8:12 a.m. PT – Abstract 112 (Room Ballroom 20D)

Stroke linked to immediate, persistent declines in mental ability

Stroke is associated with notable declines in mental ability that tend to last for years, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014.

Researchers studied the mental abilities of nearly 12,000 people ages 45-84. They followed the participants for six to 10 years, assessing their mental functioning every 18-24 months with two tests. One test measured memory; the other, their ability to organize and prioritize thoughts and information (also known as executive function).

There were 127 individuals who had an acute stroke and tests of mental ability before and after the event.

The researchers found:

• Stroke was associated with a significant decrease in memory at the time of the event.
• Executive function declined significantly faster after a stroke than it did before a stroke.
• In the years following a stroke, the changes in memory were similar to those over time before a stroke, but these findings require more research.

These findings suggest that acute stroke contributes to problems with mental ability, namely memory and executive function that can persist years after the event.

 

2:18 p.m. PT – Abstract 152 (Room 28A-D)

Stroke patients’ hand function improves when targeted brain stimulation added to therapy

Stroke patients receiving a combination of navigated brain stimulation and occupational therapy recovered more than twice the arm and hand movement six months after their strokes, compared to patients who received therapy alone.

Researchers presented the findings at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014

The stimulation noninvasively stimulates the non-injured brain hemisphere in stroke patients to help prevent the non-injured part of the brain from inhibiting the hemisphere injured from stroke. This is thought to allow the injured brain to become more active during occupational therapy treatment, making rehabilitation more effective.

Researchers studied 30 stroke patients with hand weakness on one side months after their strokes. Patients were randomly selected to receive either navigated brain stimulation or sham stimulation for 20 minutes before going to 1.5 hours of arm and hand therapy. Researchers measured the patients’ arm and hand movement and hand dexterity after six weeks of therapy. Those with the stimulation had twice the improvement in arm and hand movement and were more likely to maintain significant improvements at six months.

While both groups improved in control of arm and hand movement over time, 80 percent of patients in the navigated brain stimulation group maintained functional improvement noticeable in everyday life six months after treatment compared to only 50 percent in the sham group.

Since notable improvements from the stimulation therapy can be seen six months after the therapy, non-invasive brain stimulation could offer stroke patients long-lasting functional benefit when added to standard occupational therapy, researchers said.

 

3 p.m. PT – Abstract TMP24 (Room Hall G)

Hispanic stroke patients less likely to receive clot-busting drugs in border state hospitals

Hispanic stroke patients admitted to hospitals in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were less likely than non-Hispanics in the same border states to receive clot-busting drugs and more likely to die, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014.

Researchers analyzed stroke care for Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients according to demographics and clinical characteristics in states bordering Mexico and states not on the Mexican border. They found:

• Of the nearly 35,000 Hispanic stroke patients, 21,130 were admitted in border states and 13,774 in non-border states.
• Only 4.8 percent of Hispanic patients in border state hospitals received clot-busting drugs compared to 5.7 percent of non-Hispanic patients in border state hospitals.
• Hispanic stroke patients were 30 percent more likely than non-Hispanics to die in border state hospitals.
• There was no notable difference in death rates between Hispanic and non-Hispanic stroke patients in non-border state hospitals.

Researchers say more study is needed to determine why clot-busters are underutilized in Hispanics admitted in border states but not in other states.

Note: Actual presentation is 6:10 p.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014.

 

3 p.m. PT – Abstract T P307 (Room Hall G)

Stroke survivors often return to driving without being evaluated for ability 

Stroke survivors often resume driving without being formally evaluated for ability — though stroke can cause deficits that can impair driving, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2014.

Researchers surveyed 162 stroke survivors a year after their strokes and found:

• More than 51 percent returned to driving — many a month after suffering a stroke.
• Only 5.6 percent received a formal driving evaluation.
• Eleven percent of those who returned to driving reported their strokes had greatly impacted their abilities to perform important life activities.
• Among those who returned to driving and reported no effect on their abilities to perform important life activities, more than 45 percent limited their driving.

Researchers suggest stroke survivors may benefit from formal evaluation before resuming driving.

Note: Actual presentation is 6:15 p.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014.  

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