Objective To systematically evaluate the influence of alcohol intervention on the outcome of rats and mice with ischemic stroke. Methods Databases including PubMed, EMbase, BIOSIS and CNKI were electronically searched from establishment dates of databases to June 2012 to retrieve animal experiments on the influence of alcohol intervention on the outcome of rats and mice with ischemic stroke. The relevant studies were identified according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, the data were extracted, and the quality was evaluated. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. Results Eight studies were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that no significant difference was found between the alcohol intervention group and the control group (MD=−6.98%, 95%CI −20.38% to 6.43%, P=0.31). However, compared with the control group, low dose of acute alcohol intervention (less than 2 g/kg) improved the prognosis of ischemic stroke with a significant difference (MD=−22.83%, 95%CI −38.77% to −6.89%, P=0.005), and highly-concentrated of chronic alcohol intervention worsened the cerebral ischemic damage of rats and mice with a significant difference (MD=24.06%, 95%CI 10.54% to 37.58%, P=0.000 5). Conclusion Low dose of acute alcohol intervention (less than 2 g/kg) could improve the prognosis of rats and mice with ischemic stroke which has the potential neuro-protective effects. However, highly-concentrated chronic alcohol intervention could worsen the cerebral ischemic damage. Due to the limitations of the included studies such as publication bias, the influence of alcohol intervention on the outcome of rats and mice with ischemic stroke could be overestimated.
Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of fibfinogen-depleting agents (snake venom extracts) in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Method A systematic review of all the relevant randomized controlled trails (RCTs) was performed. RCTs were identified from the Cochrane Stroke Group’s Specialized Trials Register, additional electronic and handsearching, and personal contract with pharmaceutical companies. We included all completed and unconfounded truly or quasi-randomized trials in patients with ischemic stroke comparing fibrinogen depleting agents for analysis. Results Ten completed and one ongoing RCTs have been identified so far. Up to 1998, only three trials using ancrod (182 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Ancrod was associated with a significant reduction in early deaths (5.6% vs. 16%; odds ratio [OR], 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13 to 0.85; 2P=0.02) suggesting that treatment of 100 patients would avoid about 10 early deaths. The frequency of asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage shown by computed tomography was similar between ancrod-treated and control groups (7.6% vs. 9.6%; OR 0.78; 95%CI 0.26 to 2.33; 2P=0.65). No major intracranial or extracranial hemorrhages or recurrent ischemic strokes occurred in the ancord-allocated patients. There were nonsignificant trends in favor of ancrod in death from any cause (OR 0.57; 95%CI 0.27 to 1.23; 2P=0.15) and death or disability (OR 0.52; 95%CI 0.26 to 1.03; 2P=0.06) at the end of trial follow-up. Up to 2000, other two trials published results. This review will be updated with new trial results soon, which will provide more data. Conclusions There were too few patients and outcome events to draw reliable conclusions from the present data. Although ancrod-like agents appeared promising, their routine use cannot be recommended at the moment. Future trials should test simpler fixed-dose regimens to allow better generalizability.
Objective To assess the effect of different thrombolytic agents, and different regimens in acute ischaemic stroke. Methods A systematic review of all the relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. RCTs were identified from the Cochrane Stroke Group trials register, Embase (1980 to 1997), handsearching Japanese and Chinese journals, and personal contact with pharmaceutical companies. We included randomised and quasi-randomised trials in patients with confirmed acute ischaemic stroke comparing different doses of a thrombolytic agent, or different thrombolytic agent, or the same agent given by different routes. Results Eight trials involving 1 334 patients were included. Concealment of allocation was generally adequate. All the trials were conducted in Japan. Different doses (of tissue plasminogen activator or urokinase) were compared in six trials. Different agents (tissue plasminogen activator versus urokinase,or tissue-cultured urokinase versus conventional urokinase) were compared in three trials. Few data were available for functional outcomes. A higher dose of thrombolytic therapy was associated with a five-fold increase in fatal intracranial haernorrhages (odds ratio 5.02, 95% confidence interval 1.56 to 16.18). There was a non-significant trend towards more early deaths or clinically significant intracranial haemorrhages in higher dose group. No difference in late deaths or extra-cranial haemorrhages was shown between low and higher doses. However, very few of these events occurred. No difference was shown between the different thrombolytic agents tested. Conclusions There is not enough evidence to conclude whether lower doses of thrombolytic agents might be safer or more effective than higher doses in acute ischaemic stroke. It is not possible to conclude whether one agent might be better than another, or which route of administration might be best.
Objective To investigate the risk factors and the prevention and cure methods of ischemic stroke during low intensity anticoagulation therapy after mechanical heart valve replacement. Methods From March 2004 to July 2008，twentythree patients with ischemic stroke after mechanical heart valve replacement had been researched(ischemic stroke group). One hundred and twenty patients who had undergone mechanical heart valve replacement were randomly chosen in the same period as control group. Gender, age, the dose of warfarin , anticoagulation intensity(INR), INR review interval, left atrial diameter and heart rhythm were compared between the two groups, and the risk factors of ischemic stroke were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Results (1) Patients in ischemic stroke group all discharged from hospital after treatment, and they were followed up for 1 month-3 years after discharged. All the patients’ neurological complications improved obviously, and no recurrent embolism and severe hemorrhage was found. (2) There was no statistical significance between two groups in gender, age and the dose of warfarin（Pgt;0.05）. (3) Nonconditional logistic regression analysis on influence factors showed that atrial fibrillation（P=0.000）, left atrial enlargement（P=0.002）, low anticoagulation intensity（P=0.012） and longtime INR review interval（P=0.047）were the risk factors of ischemic stroke during low intensity anticoagulation therapy after mechanical heart valve replacement. Conclusions (1)The prognosis of ischemic stroke during low intensity anticoagulation therapy after mechanical heart valve replacement is better than that of intracranial hemorrhage, and the occurrence of ischemic stroke is related to many risk factors. (2)The influences of risk factors should be minimized in order to avoid ischemic stroke. (3) Early low intensity anticoagulation therapy is safe and effective for patients with ischemic stroke after heart valve replacement.
Objective To explore the correlation between interleukin-6 (IL-6) 174G/C polymorphism and ischemic stroke risks. Methods Systematic searches of electronic databases as CBM, CNKI, PubMed, MEDLINE and EMbase were performed. Meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan 5.1.2 and Stata 11.0 software. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were performed. Publication bias was tested by funnel plot, Egger’s regression test and Begg’s test. Sensitivity analysis was made by repeating the fixed effects model or random effects model Meta-analysis with each of the studies individually removed. Results A total of 11 publications with 12 studies were identified. The results of meta-analyses showed no significant difference was found in the correlation between IL-6 174G/C polymorphism and ischemic stroke risks (for G/C vs. G/G: OR=0.98, 95%CI 0.78 to 1.24; for C/C vs. G/G: OR=0.75, 95%CI 0.38 to 1.50; for dominant inheritance model: OR=0.93, 95%CI 0.68 to 1.28; for recessive inheritance model: OR=0.80, 95%CI 0.45 to 1.42). In the subgroup analyses on ethnicity, no significant correlation was found. But in the subgroup analyses on source of control population, the hospital-based subgroup showed IL-6 174G/C polymorphism was the protective factor of ischemic stroke (for G/C vs. G/G: OR=0.56, 95%CI 0.40 to 0.79; for C/C vs. G/G: OR=0.17, 95%CI 0.11 to 0.27; for dominant inheritance model: OR=0.40, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.55; for recessive inheritance model: OR=0.24, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.37). Conclusion Meta-analysis bly suggests that the correlation between IL-6 174 G/C polymorphism and ischemic stroke is not significantly different.
Objective To systematically assess the clinical efficacy and safety of cilostazol for preventing ischemic stroke recurrence. Methods Such databases as PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CNKI, CBM, and VIP were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the use of cilostazol to prevent ischemic stroke recurrence (up to November, 2010). Two researchers selected studies and extracted data independently using a designed extraction form. The quality of included trials was evaluated and RevMan 5.0 software was used for meta-analyses. Results Four RCTs involving 3 916 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that there were significant differences between cilostazol and aspirin in terms of hemorrhagic stroke occurrence (RR=0.39, 95%CI 0.24 to 0.61, Plt;0.000 1), headache occurrence (RR=1.99, 95%CI 1.16 to 3.43, P=0.01) and dizziness occurrence (RR=1.43, 95%CI 1.13 to 1.79, P=0.002). Whereas, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of ischemic stroke recurrence (RR=0.80, 95%CI 0.61 to 1.04, P=0.10) and transient ischemic attack occurrence (RR=0.93, 95%CI 0.45 to 1.92, P=0.85). Conclusion The current evidence indicates that cilostazol is as effective as aspirin in preventing ischemic stroke recurrence, but with less incidence of hemorrhagic stroke.
Objective The baseline, clinical characteristics, and risk factors were analyzed in the stroke registry program of the Xinjiang Production Constraction Corp’s Hospital aimed to aid the clinical management and stroke prevention. Method A single center prospective method based on Lausanne Stroke Registry was used in this study. Patients generally, past history, living conditions, onset to treatment time, the stroke scale were collected with 1 year follow up. The investigators of follow up were single blinded. Result Eight hundred and ten ischemic stroke patients were included, of which 478 (59.01%) were male, 332 (40.99%) were female. The average age of these patients was 66.50±10.66 years. One year loss rate of follow up was 4.64%. Seven hundred and sixty-nine patients were diagnosis as acute cerebral infarction, 41 patients were TIA. The median time from onset to treatment was 15 hours. Lacunar infarction was the most common type with 334 (43.43%) patients. The average score of the National Institutes of Heath Stroke Scale was 5.55±7.24. The incidence of carotid artery plaque was 82.2%. Conclution Xinjiang region has its own characteristics of stroke with a higher carotid artery plaque rate and thrombolytic therapy ratio. Good stroke registration system could standardize the clinical behavior and promote the continuous improvement of medical quality.
Objective To analyze the methodological quality of clinical trails on butylphthalide for cerebral ischemic stroke. Methods We collected all of the published clinical studies on butylphthalide for cerebral ischemic stroke in the world, and evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies according to clinical epidemiologic standard. The search time was from the establishment of each database to December, 2009. Results A total of 62 studies involving 5 762 patients were included. In all included studies, there were 56 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A total of 8 studies described the method of random assignments. There were 4 multi-center randomized double-blind placebo-control trials. A total of 55 reported diagnosis criteria, 40 reported included criteria, 28 reported excluded criteria; 36 reported the curative efficacy at the end of the treatment, 51 assessed the neurological deficit score of patients before and after the treatment, 27 evaluated the ADL scores; 32 studies reported the side effects; 6 trials did not conduct intention-to-treat analysis even though some people withdrew the treatment because of the side effects or poor tolerance, etc. Conclusion Except for several high quality RCTs, current quality of some clinical trials on butylphthalide for ischemic stroke should be improved. We recommend that researchers should use internationally accepted consolidate standards of reporting trials (CONSORT) in future studies.
Objective To investigate the relationship between Oxfordshire community stroke project (OCSP) classification and MRI classification in acute cerebral infarction. Methods A total of 282 patients with acute cerebral infarction were retrospectively evaluated with OCSP classification and imaging characteristics. Results According to OCSP classification, of all 282 patients with acute cerebral infarction, 32 (11.3%) experienced total anterior circulation infarction (TACI), 86 (30.5%) partial anterior circulation infarction (PACI), 111 (39.4%) lacunar infarction (LACI), and 53 (18.8%) posterior circulation infarction (POCI). The consistency was found in 201 cases (71.3%) between the OCSP classification and imaging classification, with the accuracy of 77% (27/35) for TACI, 79% (42/53) for PACI, 69% (95/137) for LACI and 65% (37/57) for POCI. Conclusion OCSP classification can predict the location and size of cerebral infarction with a high accuracy, and is well consistent with the MRI findings.
Objective To explore the risk factors of carotid artery atherosclerotic plaque in ischemic stroke patients. Methods One hundred and forty-eight patients with ischemic stoke were allocated into two groups by ultrasonographic testing (80 with plaque and 68 without plaque). The carotid artery acoustic densitometry (IMT), blood pressure, blood glucose , blood lipid, fibriongen (FIB), c-reactive protein (CRP) were tested. First, single variable analysis was conducted and then multivariate non-condition stepwise logistic model analysis was conducted. Results Carotid IMT, age , total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL)-CH, FIB, CRP level and the incidence of hypertension and diabetes were significantly higher in ischemic stroke patients with carotid artery plaques than patients without plaques (P≤0.05); Multiple logistic regression analysis showed the most important risk factors of plaques were CRP (OR=3.546, P=0.035) and FIB (OR=1.074, P=0.012) level. Conclusion The main risk factors of carotid atherosclerosis plaque are almost the same as atherosclerosis, such as age , hypertension ,diabetes, hyperlipidemia , high FIB and CRP level and increase in carotid IMT. CRP and FIB may play a crucial role in the development of carotid artery atherosclerosis plaque.