Randomized Trial of a Social Support Intervention to Improve Home Blood Pressure Monitoring in Patients With Cerebrovascular Disease.

Background: A pilot randomized trial evaluating whether a social support intervention improves adherence to home blood pressure (BP) monitoring among patients with cerebrovascular disease.

Methods: Subjects with ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, or transient ischemic attack within 5 years with BP >140/90, were given a centrally monitored home BP cuff and asked to check their BP twice a day for 90 ± 7 days. Subjects received text and/or email reminders for missed measurements and weekly reports on adherence/BP control.

Expanding Eligibility in Stroke Prevention Trials to Patients with Early Disability.

Background And Purpose: Early disability after stroke is common, though many patients improve. Stroke secondary prevention trials often prohibit the recruitment of nonambulatory patients, limiting their access to potential treatment options and impeding trial enrollment. We aimed to determine outcomes after early dependence around the time of transition from acute care to recovery.

Perfusion Enhancement with Respiratory Impedance After Stroke (PERI-Stroke).

Intrathoracic pressure influences cardiac output and may affect cerebral blood flow (CBF). We aimed to quantify the cerebral hemodynamic response to intrathoracic pressure reduction in patients with acute ischemic stroke using a noninvasive respiratory impedance (RI) device. We assessed low-level (6 cm HO) and high-level (12 cm HO) RI in 17 spontaneously breathing patients within 72 h of anterior circulation acute ischemic stroke.

Association Between Anxiety, Depression, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke.

Stroke patients are known to be at risk of developing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To determine the overlap between anxiety, depression, and PTSD in patients after stroke and to determine the association between these disorders and quality of life, functional status, healthcare utilization, and return to work. A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted to assess for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and health-related outcomes 6-12 months after first ischemic stroke in patients without prior psychiatric disease at a single stroke center.