Publications by authors named "S J Coutts"
Objective: To evaluate the relationship between infarct pattern, inferred stroke mechanism and risk of recurrence in patients with ischaemic stroke. The question is clinically relevant to optimise secondary stroke prevention investigations and treatment.
Design: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the dabigatran treatment of acute stroke II (DATAS II) trial (ClinicalTrials.
Article Synopsis
- Non-stenotic carotid plaques, identified as having less than 50% stenosis, are considered a potential factor in ischemic strokes, particularly in patients with low-risk neurological events.
- The study analyzed data from 334 patients who experienced minor neurological symptoms and underwent CT angiography and MRI, finding that nearly 46% had these non-stenotic plaques, with a notable prevalence among those showing DWI-positive ischemia.
- The results indicated that non-stenotic plaques are more common on the side of DWI-positive lesions, suggesting a significant association between these plaques and the risk of ischemic events, as patients with non-stenotic plaques had a 40% higher risk for DWI-positive ischemia.
Background: Clinical trials often struggle to recruit enough participants, with only 10% of eligible patients enrolling. This is concerning for conditions like stroke, where timely decision-making is crucial. Frontline clinicians typically screen patients manually, but this approach can be overwhelming and lead to many eligible patients being overlooked.
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- 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
- Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) can lead to various cerebrovascular issues, but research on sex differences in SVD is limited.
- This study analyzed data from over 20,000 patients with acute ischemic stroke to examine whether the presence and severity of cerebral microbleeds (CMB) and other SVD markers differ between males and females.
- Results showed that males had more frequent CMB while females had fewer lacunes but higher severe white matter hyperintensities, indicating distinct SVD characteristics based on sex.