Trends and cost structure of drug-based secondary prevention of ischemic strokes.

Background: Advances in secondary stroke prevention, including direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), dual antiplatelet therapies (DAPT), and cardiovascular risk management, have changed costs over the past decade. This study aimed to evaluate annual treatment costs and trends in drug-based secondary prophylaxis after ischemic strokes.

Methods: Annual treatment costs were evaluated using the net costs per defined daily dosage (DDD) of discharge medications for ischemic stroke patients treated in 2020 at the University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany.

Individual contralesional recruitment in the context of structural reserve in early motor reorganization after stroke.

The concept of structural reserve in stroke reorganization assumes that the relevance of the contralesional hemisphere strongly depends on the brain tissue spared by the lesion in the affected hemisphere. Recent studies, however, have indicated that the contralesional hemisphere's impact exhibits region-specific variability with concurrently existing maladaptive and supportive influences. This challenges traditional views, necessitating a nuanced investigation of contralesional motor areas and their interaction with ipsilesional networks.

Corticospinal premotor fibers facilitate complex motor control after stroke.

Objective: The corticospinal tract (CST) is considered the most important motor output pathway comprising fibers from the primary motor cortex (M1) and various premotor areas. Damage to its descending fibers after stroke commonly leads to motor impairment. While premotor areas are thought to critically support motor recovery after stroke, the functional role of their corticospinal output for different aspects of post-stroke motor control remains poorly understood.

Age- and sex-related changes in motor functions: a comprehensive assessment and component analysis.

Age-related motor impairments often cause caregiver dependency or even hospitalization. However, comprehensive investigations of the different motor abilities and the changes thereof across the adult lifespan remain sparse. We, therefore, extensively assessed essential basic and complex motor functions in 444 healthy adults covering a wide age range (range 21 to 88 years).