Publications by authors named "L J Rinkel"
Article Synopsis
- Hyperacute cardiac CT is more effective than transthoracic echocardiography in detecting intracardiac thrombus, but its routine use is limited due to costs and risks.
- A study of 1,136 ischemic stroke or TIA patients found that longer arterial input function (AIF) dispersal times correlate with the presence of thrombus and worse outcomes, with a specific cutoff of 33 seconds indicating higher risk.
- The findings support using AIF dispersal measurements to help identify patients who may benefit from cardiac imaging, potentially optimizing resource use in stroke management.
Background: Cardiac computed tomography (CT) is increasingly used to search for cardioembolic sources of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We assessed the association between high-risk cardioembolic sources on cardiac CT and AIS.
Methods: We performed a case-control study using data from a prospective cohort including consecutive adult patients with suspected stroke who underwent cardiac CT acquired during the initial stroke imaging protocol between 2018 and 2020.
Article Synopsis
- Most stroke researchers currently use frequentist statistics, but there is a growing trend towards using Bayesian statistics in stroke research.
- Bayesian statistics focus on updating the probability of parameters based on observed data and prior beliefs, allowing for more flexible interpretations of treatment effectiveness.
- This review discusses the fundamental concepts of Bayesian statistics in stroke trials, compares them to frequentist methods with examples, and explains how to conduct and interpret Bayesian analyses.
Article Synopsis
- The study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in acute ischemic stroke patients treated within early (<6 hours) and extended (6-24 hours) time windows after symptom onset.
- It compared outcomes like good functional recovery, intracranial hemorrhage, and mortality rates between the two groups, finding that while early treatment showed slightly better recovery rates, both time frames had similar safety outcomes.
- Overall, the findings suggest that EVT remains a viable option for patients up to 24 hours after stroke symptoms, aligning with real-world clinical practices.
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates the impact of left atrial appendage (LAA) slow-flow on ischemic stroke outcomes, finding that 16% of patients had slow-flow and shared characteristics with those having LAA thrombus.
- While both slow-flow and thrombus were linked to a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation, patients with thrombus experienced more severe strokes and worse functional outcomes than those with slow-flow.
- Ultimately, slow-flow did not significantly affect functional outcomes or major cardiovascular events, but it was associated with an increased risk of stroke recurrence in patients with unknown causes of their strokes.