Exploring the Unmet Need in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Not Treated With Intravenous Alteplase: The Get With The Guidelines‐Stroke Registry

Abstract

<jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en">Early administration of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV alteplase) improves functional outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke, yet many patients are not treated with IV alteplase. There is a need to understand the reasons for nontreatment and the short‐ and long‐term outcomes in this patient population.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en">We analyzed patients ≥65 years old with a primary diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke presenting within 24 hours of time last known well (LKW) but not treated with IV alteplase from 1630 Get With The Guidelines‐Stroke hospitals in the United States between January 2016 and December 2016. We report clinical characteristics, reasons for withholding treatment, in‐hospital mortality, and 90‐day and 1‐year outcomes including costs, stratified by time from LKW to presentation (≤4.5, >4.5–6, and >6–24 hours).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en">Of 39 760 patients (median age 80 [25th–75th quartiles: 73–87], 56.7% female), 19 391 (48.8%) presented within 4.5 hours of LKW. In those with documented reasons for withholding IV alteplase, the most common reasons were rapid improvement of symptoms (3985/14 782, 27.0%) and mild symptoms (3791/14 782, 25.6%). In 1100 out of 1174 (93.7%) patients presenting in the >3.0‐ to 4.5‐hour time window, the most common reason for not treating was a delay in patient arrival. The most common discharge location for those presenting ≤4.5 hours since LKW was home (8660/19 391, 44.7%). The 90‐day mortality and readmission rates were 18.9% and 23.0% in those presenting ≤4.5 hours since LKW, 19.0% and 22.2% in those presenting between 4.5 and 6 hours, and 19.1% and 23.2% in those presenting between 6 and 24 hours. Median 90‐day total in‐hospital costs remained relatively high at $9471 (Q25–Q75: $5622–$21 356) in patients presenting ≤4.5 hours since LKW.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en">Patients within the Get With The Guidelines‐Stroke registry not treated with IV alteplase have a high risk of readmission and mortality and have high total in‐hospital and postdischarge costs. This study may inform future efforts to address the unmet need to improve the scope of IV alteplase delivery along with other aspects of acute ischemic stroke care and, consequently, outcomes in this patient population.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

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Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1161/svin.121.000226

Publication Info

Mac Grory, Brian, Ying Xian, Nicole C Solomon, Roland A Matsouaka, Marquita R Decker‐Palmer, Gregg C Fonarow, Eric E Smith, Lee H Schwamm, et al. (2022). Exploring the Unmet Need in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Not Treated With Intravenous Alteplase: The Get With The Guidelines‐Stroke Registry. Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology, 2(1). 10.1161/svin.121.000226 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/31138.

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Mac Grory

Brian C. Mac Grory

Associate Professor of Neurology

Dr. Brian Mac Grory, MB BCh BAO, MHSc, MRCP, FAHA, FANA is an Associate Professor of Neurology & Ophthalmology at the Duke University School of Medicine and a Staff Neurologist at Duke University Medical Center. He received his medical degree from University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland in 2011. After an internship at St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, he completed a neurology residency and vascular neurology fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine/Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. Upon completion of his training, he served for 3 years on the faculty of Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital before being recruited to Duke University in 2020.

His clinical practice encompasses both vascular and general neurology in the emergency, inpatient, outpatient, and telemedicine settings. He has a particular clinical interest in central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO or "eye stroke") and has developed a center of excellence for the treatment of this condition at Duke. He led the development of the first ever American Heart Association (AHA) scientific consensus statement on the management of CRAO which was endorsed by six professional medical societies in the United States representing neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology, and optometry.

Dr. Mac Grory has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles appearing in JAMABritish Medical Journal, Circulation, StrokeAnnals of Neurology, JAMA Neurology, and Neurology. His research on retinal vascular disease is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K23 HL161426), the AHA (23MRFSCD1077188), and the Duke Office of Physician-Scientist Development (FRCS #2835124). Additionally, he serves as Clinical Lead for the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Data Analytic Program at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and Associate Program Director for the vascular neurology fellowship program at Duke. His research has been recognized with the Stroke Progress and Innovation Award, Stroke Care in Emergency Medicine Award, and Early Career Investigator Award from the AHA/American Stroke Association. He is a member of the AHA's Stroke Systems of Care Advisory Group, the Stroke Emergency Neurovascular Care Committee, and the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom (MRCP(UK)). 

Solomon

Nicole Solomon

Biostatistician, Senior
Matsouaka

Roland Albert Matsouaka

Associate Professor of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics

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