Organized inpatient (stroke unit) care in very old patients

Nedeltchev, Krassen; Baumann, Christian; Haefeli, Tobias; Georgiadis, Dimitrios; Arnold, Marcel; Baumgartner, Ralf W (2009). Organized inpatient (stroke unit) care in very old patients. Neurological research, 31(9), pp. 885-91. Leeds: Maney 10.1179/174313209X382502

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It is unclear whether very old patients benefit from organized inpatient (stroke unit) care. The aim of this work was to compare the clinical outcome of patients with first-ever ischemic stroke aged either >or=80 or <80 years who were treated conservatively (without cerebral revascularization) in a university-based stroke unit. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included 147 (11%) patients >or=80 years and 1241 (89%) patients, <80 years. All patients underwent clinical examination, blood tests, electrocardiography (ECG), brain imaging and cerebrovascular ultrasound. Additional investigations were done at the discretion of the treating physician. The modified Rankin scale (mRS) score was used to assess the 3-month outcome (favorable: mRS, 0-1; poor: mRS, 2-6; death of any cause). RESULTS: Stroke severity did not differ between both groups [median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, 4]. Younger patients underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the brain, MR and catheter angiography and echocardiography (p<0.001) more frequently, whereas older patients underwent computed tomography of the brain and 24-hour ECG (p<0.001) more frequently. Stroke prevention included clopidogrel (p<0.001) and heparin (p=0.047) more often in older patients and aspirin (p=0.016) in younger patients. Recurrent ischemic events were similarly frequent in old (7%) and young (5%) patients. Favorable outcome was equally prevalent in old (71%) and young (76%) patients, whereas mortality was higher in older patients (7 and 3%, p=0.007). Admission NIHSS score >or=12 was the only independent predictor of unfavorable outcome (odds ratio, 19.6; 95% confidence interval, 9.7-39.6; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our work provides further evidence that also the oldest patients may benefit from conservative stroke unit care.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Neurology
UniBE Contributor:	Arnold, Marcel
ISSN:	0161-6412
Publisher:	Maney
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 15:13
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:22
Publisher DOI:	10.1179/174313209X382502
PubMed ID:	19138467
Web of Science ID:	000272626700001
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/32176 (FactScience: 197135)