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- Aarnio, K., et al.
(author)
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Cancer in Young Adults With Ischemic Stroke
- 2015
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In: Stroke. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0039-2499 .- 1524-4628. ; 46:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Purpose-Cancer is a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Little is known about cancer among young adults with ischemic stroke. We studied the frequency of cancer and its association with long-term risk of death among young patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. Methods-1002 patients aged 15 to 49 years, registered in the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry, and with a median follow-up of 10.0 years (interquartile range 6.5-13.8) after stroke were included. Historical and follow-up data were derived from the Finnish Care Register and Statistics Finland. Survival between groups was compared with the Kaplan-Meier life-table method, and Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify factors associated with mortality. Results-One or more cancer diagnosis was made in 77 (7.7%) patients, of whom 39 (3.9%) had cancer diagnosed prestroke. During the poststroke follow-up, 41 (53.2%) of the cancer patients died. Median time from prestroke cancer to stroke was 4.9 (1.0-9.5) years and from stroke to poststroke cancer was 6.7 (2.7-10.9) years. Poststroke cancer was associated with age >40 years, heavy drinking, and cigarette smoking. The cumulative mortality was significantly higher among the cancer patients (68.6%, 95% confidence interval 52.0%-85.3%) compared with patients without cancer (19.7%, 95% confidence interval 16.3%-23.2%). Active cancer at index stroke, melanoma, and lung/respiratory tract cancer had the strongest independent association with death during the follow-up when adjusted for known poststroke mortality prognosticators. Conclusions-Cancer, and especially active cancer and no other apparent cause for stroke, is associated with unfavorable survival among young stroke patients.
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2. |
- Aarnio, K., et al.
(author)
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Cardiovascular events after ischemic stroke in young adults: A prospective follow-up study
- 2016
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In: Neurology. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 86:20, s. 1872-1879
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives:To study the long-term risk of recurrent cardiac, arterial, and venous events in young stroke patients, and whether these risks differed between etiologic subgroups.Methods:The study population comprised 970 patients aged 15-49 years from the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry (HYSR) who had an ischemic stroke in 1994-2007. We obtained follow-up data until 2012 from the Finnish Care Register and Statistics Finland. Cumulative 15-year risks were analyzed with life tables, whereas relative risks and corresponding confidence intervals (CI) were based on hazard ratios (HR) from Cox regression analyses.Results:There were 283 (29.2%) patients with a cardiovascular event during the median follow-up of 10.1 years (range 0.1-18.0). Cumulative 15-year risk for venous events was 3.9%. Cumulative 15-year incidence rate for composite vascular events was 34.0 (95% CI 30.1-38.2) per 1,000 person-years. When adjusted for age and sex, patients with an index stroke caused by high-risk sources of cardioembolism had the highest HR for any subsequent cardiovascular events (3.7; 95% CI 2.6-5.4), whereas the large-artery atherosclerosis group had the highest HR (2.7; 95% CI 1.6-4.6) for recurrent stroke compared with patients with stroke of undetermined etiology.Conclusions:The risk for future cardiovascular events after ischemic stroke in young adults remains high for years after the index stroke, in particular when the index stroke is caused by high-risk sources of cardioembolism or large-artery atherosclerosis.
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3. |
- Aarnio, K., et al.
(author)
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Return to work after ischemic stroke in young adults: A registry-based follow-up study
- 2018
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In: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 91:20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the proportion of young patients not returning to work (NRTW) at 1 year after ischemic stroke (IS) and during follow-up, and clinical factors associated with NRTW. METHODS: Patients from the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry with an IS occurring in the years 1994-2007, who were at paid employment within 1 year before IS, and with NIH Stroke Scale score ≤15 points at hospital discharge, were included. Data on periods of payment came from the Finnish Centre for Pensions, and death data from Statistics Finland. Multivariate logistic regression analyses assessed factors associated with NRTW 1 year after IS, and lasagna plots visualized the proportion of patients returning to work over time. RESULTS: We included a total of 769 patients, of whom 289 (37.6%) were not working at 1 year, 323 (42.0%) at 2 years, and 361 (46.9%) at 5 years from IS. When adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and NIH Stroke Scale score at admission, factors associated with NRTW at 1 year after IS were large anterior strokes, strokes caused by large artery atherosclerosis, high-risk sources of cardioembolism, and rare causes other than dissection compared with undetermined cause, moderate to severe aphasia vs no aphasia, mild and moderate to severe limb paresis vs no paresis, and moderate to severe visual field deficit vs no deficit. CONCLUSIONS: NRTW is a frequent adverse outcome after IS in young adults with mild to moderate IS. Clinical variables available during acute hospitalization may allow prediction of NRTW. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.
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4. |
- Ekker, Merel, et al.
(author)
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Global Outcome Assessment Life-long after stroke in young adults initiative-the GOAL initiative: study protocol and rationale of a multicentre retrospective individual patient data meta-analysis.
- 2019
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In: BMJ open. - : BMJ. - 2044-6055. ; 9:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Worldwide, 2 million patients aged 18-50 years suffer a stroke each year, and this number is increasing. Knowledge about global distribution of risk factors and aetiologies, and information about prognosis and optimal secondary prevention in young stroke patients are limited. This limits evidence-based treatment and hampers the provision of appropriate information regarding the causes of stroke, risk factors and prognosis of young stroke patients.The Global Outcome Assessment Life-long after stroke in young adults (GOAL) initiative aims to perform a global individual patient data meta-analysis with existing data from young stroke cohorts worldwide. All patients aged 18-50 years with ischaemic stroke or intracerebral haemorrhage will be included. Outcomes will be the distribution of stroke aetiology and (vascular) risk factors, functional outcome after stroke, risk of recurrent vascular events and death and finally the use of secondary prevention. Subgroup analyses will be made based on age, gender, aetiology, ethnicity and climate of residence.Ethical approval for the GOAL study has already been obtained from the Medical Review Ethics Committee region Arnhem-Nijmegen. Additionally and when necessary, approval will also be obtained from national or local institutional review boards in the participating centres. When needed, a standardised data transfer agreement will be provided for participating centres. We plan dissemination of our results in peer-reviewed international scientific journals and through conference presentations. We expect that the results of this unique study will lead to better understanding of worldwide differences in risk factors, causes and outcome of young stroke patients.
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5. |
- Kivioja, R., et al.
(author)
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Risk factors for early-onset ischemic stroke: A case-control study
- 2018
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In: Journal of the American Heart Association. - 2047-9980. ; 7:21
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background-Recent studies have shown an increasing prevalence of vascular risk factors in young adults with ischemic stroke (IS). However, the strength of the association between all vascular risk factors and early-onset IS has not been fully established. Methods and Results-We compared 961 patients with a first-ever IS at 25 to 49 years to 1403 frequency-matched stroke-free controls from a population-based cohort study (FINRISK). Assessed risk factors included an active malignancy, atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular disease, current smoking status, a family history of stroke, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hypertension, and type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. We performed subgroup analyses based on age, sex, and IS etiology. In a fully adjusted multivariable logistic regression analysis, significant risk factors for IS consisted of atrial fibrillation (odds ratio [OR], 10.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.33–46.77], cardiovascular disease (OR, 8.01; 95% CI, 3.09–20.78), type 1 diabetes mellitus (OR, 6.72; 95% CI, 3.15–14.33), type 2 diabetes mellitus (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.35–3.95), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.37–2.40), current smoking status (OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.50–2.17), hypertension (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.17–1.75), and a family history of stroke (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.04–1.82). High low-density lipoprotein cholesterol exhibited an inverse association with IS. In the subgroup analyses, the most consistent associations appeared for current smoking status and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Conclusions-Our study establishes the associations between 11 vascular risk factors and early-onset IS, among which atrial fibrillation, cardiovascular disease, and both type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus in particular showed strong associations. © 2018 The Authors.
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6. |
- Martinez-Majander, N., et al.
(author)
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Embolic strokes of undetermined source in young adults: baseline characteristics and long-term outcome
- 2018
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In: European Journal of Neurology. - : Wiley. - 1351-5101 .- 1468-1331. ; 25:3, s. 535-541
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and purposeEmbolic strokes of undetermined source (ESUS) are a recent entity, not yet thoroughly investigated in young stroke patients. The clinical characteristics and long-term risks of vascular events and all-cause mortality between young-onset ESUS and other aetiological subgroups were compared. MethodsPatients with ESUS were identified amongst the 1008 patients aged 15-49 years with first-ever ischaemic stroke in Helsinki Young Stroke Registry, and primary end-points were defined as recurrent stroke, composite vascular events and all-cause mortality. Cumulative 15-year risks for each end-point were analysed with life tables and adjusted risks were based on Cox proportional hazard analyses. ResultsOf the 971 eligible patients, 203 (20.9%) were classified as ESUS. They were younger (median age 40 years, interquartile range 32-46 vs. 45 years, 39-47), more often female (43.3% vs. 35.7%) and had fewer cardiovascular risk factors than other modified TOAST groups. With a median follow-up time of 10.1 years, ESUS patients had the second lowest cumulative risk of recurrent stroke and composite vascular events and lowest mortality compared to other TOAST groups. Large-artery atherosclerosis and small vessel disease carried significantly higher risk for recurrent stroke than did ESUS, whilst no difference appeared between cardioembolism from high-risk sources and ESUS. ConclusionsIn our cohort, ESUS patients were younger and had milder cardiovascular risk factor burden and generally better long-term outcome compared to other causes of young-onset stroke. The comparable risk of recurrent stroke between ESUS and high-risk sources of cardioembolism might suggest similarities in their pathophysiology.
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7. |
- Mustanoja, S., et al.
(author)
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Acute-Phase Blood Pressure Levels Correlate With a High Risk of Recurrent Strokes in Young-Onset Ischemic Stroke
- 2016
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In: Stroke. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0039-2499 .- 1524-4628. ; 47:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Purpose-High blood pressure (BP) in acute stroke has been associated with a poor outcome; however, this has not been evaluated in young adults. Methods-The relationship between BP and long-term outcome was assessed in 1004 consecutive young, first-ever ischemic stroke patients aged 15 to 49 years enrolled in the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry. BP parameters included systolic (SBP) and diastolic BP, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure at admission and 24 hours. The primary outcome measure was recurrent stroke in the long-term follow-up. Adjusted for demographics and preexisting comorbidities, Cox regression models were used to assess independent BP parameters associated with outcome. Results-Of our patients (63% male), 393 patients (39%) had prestroke hypertension and 358 (36%) used antihypertensive treatment. The median follow-up period was 8.9 years (interquartile range 5.7-13.2). Patients with a recurrent stroke (n = 142, 14%) had significantly higher admission SBP, diastolic BP, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure (P < 0.001) and 24-h SBP, diastolic BP, and mean arterial pressure compared with patients without the recurrent stroke. Patients with SBP >= 160 mm Hg compared with those with SBP < 160 mm Hg had significantly more recurrent strokes (hazard ratio 3.3 [95% confidence interval, 2.05-4.55]; P < 0.001) occurring earlier (13.9 years [13.0-14.6] versus 16.2 [15.8-16.6]; P < 0.001) within the follow-up period. In multivariable analyses, higher admission SBP, diastolic BP, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure were independently associated with the risk of recurrent stroke, while the 24-hour BP levels were not. Conclusions-In young ischemic stroke patients, high acute phase BP levels are independently associated with a high risk of recurrent strokes.
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8. |
- van Dongen, M. M. E., et al.
(author)
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Use of antihypertensive medication after ischemic stroke in young adults and its association with long-term outcome
- 2019
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In: Annals of Medicine. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0785-3890 .- 1365-2060. ; 51:1, s. 68-77
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Knowledge on the use of secondary preventive medication in young adults is limited. Methods: We included 936 first-ever ischemic stroke 30-day survivors aged 15-49, enrolled in the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry, 1994-2007. Follow-up data until 2012 came from Finnish Care Register, Statistics Finland, and Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Usage thresholds were defined as non-users, low (prescription coverage <30%), intermediate (30-80%) and high users (>80%). Adjusted Cox regression allowed assessing the association of usage with all-cause mortality and recurrent vascular events. Results: Of our patients, 40.5% were non-users, 7.8% had low usage, 11.8% intermediate usage and 40.0% high usage. Median follow-up was 8.3 years. Compared to non-users, risk of mortality and recurrent stroke or TIA was lower for patients with low-intermediate (HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.22-0.65; HR 0.31, 95% CI 0.18-0.53) and high usage (HR 0.25, 95% CI 0.15-0.42; HR 0.30, 95% CI 0.19-0.46), after adjustment for confounders. Conclusions: Use of antihypertensives was suboptimal in one-third of patients in whom antihypertensives were initially prescribed. Users were at lower risk of mortality and recurrent stroke or TIA compared to non-users.Key Messages The use of antihypertensive medication is suboptimal in one-third of patients in whom antihypertensive medication was initially prescribed after ischemic stroke at young age. The risk of mortality and recurrent stroke or TIA is lower for users of antihypertensive medication after ischemic stroke at young age compared to non-users, after adjustment for relevant confounders including pre-existing hypertension and prior use of antihypertensive medication. Specific guidelines on antihypertensive medication use after ischemic stroke at young age are lacking. However, our results may motivate doctors and patients in gaining better usage of antihypertensive medication, since better usage was associated with more favorable outcome in this study.
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