A visit to the stroke belt of the United States

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Abstract

Southeastern part of United States has been called the Stroke Belt due to a much higher incidence of stroke compared to the rest of the country. In this article, I summarize my 2 weeks of observations as a clinical preceptor at the Comprehensive Stroke Center, University of Alabama Hospital, Birmingham, AL. 57 patients were admitted during these 2 weeks, 61% had ischemic strokes, and 23% received intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IV rt-PA). Endovascular neuro-interventionalists were performing diagnostic catheter angiography in 14% and emergent revascularization procedures in 7% of consecutive patients. Also, the stroke team enrolled 6 patients into National institute of health (NIH) funded clinical trials (3 Argatroban tPA stroke study (ARTSS), 2 Safety study of external counter pulsation as a treatment for acute ischemic stroke (CUFFS), 1 stenting and aggressive medical management for preventing recurrent stroke in intracranial stenosis (SAMMPRIS). In my opinion, these observations provided me with useful knowledge how to develop a cutting edge, proactive stroke treatment system. In particular, availability 24 × 7 and consistent application of a curative, “finding reasons to treat approach” coupled with state-of the-art technologies and skilled operators could make a huge difference.

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Most cited references 7

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Reversed Robin Hood syndrome in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Andrei V Alexandrov, Vijay K Sharma, Annabelle Y Lao … (2007)

Recurrent hemodynamic and neurological changes with persisting arterial occlusions may be attributable to cerebral blood flow steal from ischemic to nonaffected brain. Transcranial Doppler monitoring with voluntary breath-holding and serial NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores were obtained in patients with acute middle cerebral artery or internal carotid artery occlusions. The steal phenomenon was detected as transient, spontaneous, or vasodilatory stimuli-induced velocity reductions in affected arteries at the time of velocity increase in normal vessels. The steal magnitude (%) was calculated as [(MFVm-MFVb)/MFVb]x100, where m=minimum and b=baseline mean flow velocities (MFV) during the 15- to 30-second period of a total 30 second of breath-holding. Six patients had steal phenomenon on transcranial Doppler (53 to 73 years, NIHSS 4 to 15 points). Steal magnitude ranged from -15.0% to -43.2%. All patients also had recurrent neurological worsening (>2 points increase in NIHSS scores) at stable blood pressure. In 3 of 5 patients receiving noninvasive ventilatory correction for snoring/sleep apnea, no further velocity or NIHSS score changes were noted. Our descriptive study suggests possibility to detect and quantify the cerebral steal phenomenon in real-time. If the steal is confirmed as the cause of neurological worsening, reversed Robin Hood syndrome may identify a target group for testing blood pressure augmentation and noninvasive ventilatory correction in stroke patients.

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Design of the stenting and aggressive medical management for preventing recurrent stroke in intracranial stenosis trial.

Marc I Chimowitz, Michael Lynn, Tanya Turan … (2015)

Patients with recent transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke caused by 70% to 99% stenosis of a major intracranial artery are at high risk of recurrent stroke on usual medical management, suggesting the need for alternative therapies for this disease. The Stenting and Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent stroke in Intracranial Stenosis trial is an ongoing, randomized, multicenter, 2-arm trial that will determine whether intracranial angioplasty and stenting adds benefit to aggressive medical management alone for preventing the primary endpoint (any stroke or death within 30 days after enrollment or after any revascularization procedure of the qualifying lesion during follow-up, or stroke in the territory of the symptomatic intracranial artery beyond 30 days) during a mean follow-up of 2 years in patients with recent TIA or stroke caused by 70% to 99% stenosis of a major intracranial artery. Aggressive medical management in both arms consists of aspirin 325 mg per day, clopidogrel 75 mg per day for 90 days after enrollment, intensive risk factor management primarily targeting systolic blood pressure <140 mm Hg (<130 mm Hg in diabetics) and low density cholesterol <70 mg/dL, and a lifestyle modification program. The sample size required to detect a 35% reduction in the rate of the primary endpoint from angioplasty and stenting based on the log-rank test with an alpha of 0.05, 80% power, and adjusting for a 2% loss to follow-up and 5% crossover from the medical to the stenting arm is 382 patients per group. Enrollment began in November 2008 and 451 patients have been enrolled as of March 31, 2011. This is the first randomized stroke prevention trial to compare angioplasty and stenting with medical therapy in patients with intracranial arterial stenosis and to incorporate intensive management of multiple risk factors and a lifestyle modification program in the study design. Hopefully, the results of the trial will lead to more effective therapy for this high-risk disease. Copyright © 2011 National Stroke Association. All rights reserved.

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Birth and adult residence in the Stroke Belt independently predict stroke mortality.

Anna Kosheleva, Bernadette Boden-Albala, M. Glymour (2009)

Understanding how the timing of exposure to the US Stroke Belt (SB) influences stroke risk may illuminate mechanisms underlying the SB phenomenon and factors influencing population stroke rates. Stroke mortality rates for United States-born black and white people aged 30-80 years were calculated for 1980, 1990, and 2000 for strata defined by birth state, state of adult residence, race, sex, and birth year. Four SB exposure categories were defined: born in a SB state (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, or Alabama) and lived in the SB at adulthood; non-SB born but SB adult residence; SB-born but adult residence outside the SB; and did not live in the SB at birth or in adulthood (reference group). We estimated age-, sex-, and race-adjusted odds ratios for stroke mortality associated with timing of SB exposure. Elevated stroke mortality was associated with both SB birth and, independently, SB adult residence, with the highest risk among those who lived in the SB at birth and adulthood. Compared to those living outside the SB at birth and adulthood, odds ratios for SB residence at birth and adulthood for black subjects were 1.55 (95% confidence interval 1.28, 1.88) in 1980, 1.47 (1.31, 1.65) in 1990, and 1.34 (1.22, 1.48) in 2000. Comparable odds ratios for white subjects were 1.45 (95% confidence interval 1.33, 1.58), 1.29 (1.21, 1.37), and 1.34 (1.25, 1.44). Patterns were similar for every race, sex, and age subgroup examined. Stroke Belt birth and adult residence appear to make independent contributions to stroke mortality risk.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Neurosci Rural Pract

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): J Neurosci Rural Pract

Journal ID (publisher-id): JNRP

Title: Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice

Publisher: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd (India )

ISSN (Print): 0976-3147

ISSN (Electronic): 0976-3155

Publication date (Print): Sep-Dec 2012

Volume: 3

Issue: 3

Pages: 426-428

Affiliations

[1] Department of Neurology, Narayana Medical College and Hospital, Nellore AP, India

Author notes

Address for correspondence: Dr. Lokesh Bathala, Certified Neurosonologist from American Society of Neuroimaging, Department of Neurology, Division of Neurosonology, Narayana medical college and hospital Nellore, India. E-mail: lokeshbdvt@ 123456yahoo.co.in

Article

Publisher ID: JNRP-3-426

DOI: 10.4103/0976-3147.102653

PMC ID: 3505364

PubMed ID: 23189025

SO-VID: 97dcb062-4cfb-4a74-a2e3-a57a87f2afee

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A visit to the stroke belt of the United States

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Stroke MRI

Most cited references 7

Reversed Robin Hood syndrome in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Design of the stenting and aggressive medical management for preventing recurrent stroke in intracranial stenosis trial.

Birth and adult residence in the Stroke Belt independently predict stroke mortality.

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