Abstract WP207: Treatments Advanced, But Outcomes Stagnated In Young Adults With Acute Ischemic Stroke In Korea Between 2008 And 2019

Abstract

Background: Outcome improvement in young stroke patients is of great interest given their long life expectancy and substantial societal burden. We aimed to investigate whether the treatment advancement has been made and translated into outcome improvement in young patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: From a prospective multicenter stroke registry in South Korea, young AIS patients (aged 18-50) hospitalized between 2008 and 2019 were identified. The study period was divided into 4 epochs. The secular trends of patient characteristics, treatments, and outcomes adjusted for potential confounders were analyzed. Results: This study included 7,050 young AIS patients (mean age 43.1; men 71.9%) from 70,567 enrolled during the period. The mean age decreased from 43.6 years in 2008-2010 to 42.9 years in 2017-19 (P trend =.009). Obesity increased (40.1% to 49.0%), but current smoking decreased (53.1% to 42.8%). Other vascular risk factors and sex proportions did not change (P trend ’s > 0.5). Onset-to-arrival time and door-to-puncture time for mechanical thrombectomy did not change (P trend ’s > 0.5), but door-to-needle time for intravenous thrombolysis improved (P trend <.001). Acute and secondary stroke prevention treatments including intravenous thrombolysis (9.5% to 13.8%), mechanical thrombectomy (3.2% to 9.2%), dual antiplatelet therapy for minor stroke (26.6% to 48.0%), direct oral anticoagulant for atrial fibrillation (0.0% to 56.2%) and statins (71.5% to 91.2%) improved significantly (P trend ’s <.01). For stroke outcomes, for which data were available since 2011, the proportions of 3-month modified Rankin Scale 0-1 (68.3% to 69.1%) and 0-2 (87.6% to 86.2%), one-year mortality (2.5% to 2.4%), and one-year stroke recurrence (4.4% to 5.3%) did not improve (adjusted P trend ’s > 0.2). Conclusions: This study shows that the treatment improvements did not lead to outcome improvements in young AIS patients. The findings indicate that we should not be complacent with the current advances.