BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Two early basilar artery occlusion (BAO) randomized controlled trials did not establish the superiority of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) over medical management. While many providers continue to recommend EVT for acute BAO, perceptions of equipoise in randomizing patients with BAO to EVT versus medical management may differ between clinician specialties. METHODS: We conducted an international survey (January 18, 2022 to March 31, 2022) regarding management strategies in acute BAO prior to the announcement of two trials indicating the superiority of EVT, and compared responses between interventionalists (INTs) and non-interventionalists (nINTs). Selection practices for routine EVT and perceptions of equipoise regarding randomizing to medical management based on neuroimaging and clinical features were compared between the two groups using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Among the 1245 respondents (nINTs = 702), INTs more commonly believed that EVT was superior to medical management in acute BAO (98.5% vs. 95.1%, p < .01). A similar proportion of INTs and nINTs responded that they would not randomize a patient with BAO to EVT (29.4% vs. 26.7%), or that they would only under specific clinical circumstances (p = .45). Among respondents who would recommend EVT for BAO, there was no difference in the maximum prestroke disability, minimum stroke severity, or infarct burden on computed tomography between the two groups (p > .05), although nINTs more commonly preferred perfusion imaging (24.2% vs. 19.7%, p = .04). Among respondents who indicated they would randomize to medical management, INTs were more likely to randomize when the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was ≥10 (15.9% vs. 6.9%, p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Following the publication of two neutral clinical trials in BAO EVT, most stroke providers believed EVT to be superior to medical management in carefully selected patients, with most indicating they would not randomize a BAO patient to medical treatment. There were small differences in preference for advanced neuroimaging for patient selection, although these preferences were unsupported by clinical trial data at the time of the survey.

• Klíčová slova
• basilar artery occlusion, endovascular therapy, intravenous thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy,
• MeSH
• arteria basilaris diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• arteriální okluzní nemoci * MeSH
• cévní mozková příhoda * terapie   MeSH
• endovaskulární výkony * metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• trombektomie metody   MeSH
• výsledek terapie MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

INTRODUCTION: Uncertainty remains on the optimal management of basilar artery occlusion (BAO). Two large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in 2019 and 2021 demonstrated neutral results with respect to the use of endovascular therapy (EVT) for BAO. This study aimed to understand regional variation in physicians' perceptions towards the treatment of BAO as stratified by physician respondents from China versus outside China, prior to the publication of studies demonstrating a benefit of EVT for BAO. METHODS: An international online survey was conducted of stroke neurologists and neurointerventionalists from January to March 2022. Survey questions evaluated physician opinions toward the use of EVT in BAO, as well as the clinical and imaging features underlying treatment decisions. Respondents were dichotomized as either from China or from other countries and differences between groups were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 1245 physician respondents across 73 countries of which 295 (23.7%) were from China. Compared to respondents from the rest of the world, respondents from China were more likely to be interventionalists (71.5% vs 35.0%; p < 0.0001). Overall, more than 95% of respondents believed that EVT was superior to medical therapy under certain circumstances. Chinese respondents were more likely to believe that further RCTs were necessary than respondents from other countries (93.6% vs 76.2%; p < 0.0001). Chinese respondents were more likely to use advanced imaging in later time windows and use a premorbid mRS threshold of ≤2 for BAO selection to EVT. CONCLUSION: Most stroke physicians believe EVT is beneficial in selected patients with BAO. Clinical and imaging modality differences were observed in the selection criteria used for EVT. There was greater inclination to enroll all trial eligible patients in a BAO RCT by respondents from China as compared to other parts of the world.

• Klíčová slova
• Basilar artery occlusion, Endovascular therapy, Intravenous thrombolysis, Mechanical thrombectomy,
• MeSH
• arteria basilaris * chirurgie   MeSH
• arteriální okluzní nemoci * terapie   MeSH
• cévní mozková příhoda terapie   MeSH
• endovaskulární výkony * metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• průzkumy a dotazníky MeSH
• randomizované kontrolované studie jako téma MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• výsledek terapie MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020). RESULTS: There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P<0.0001) and 2020 (41.4%; 95% CI, 37.0 to 46.0; P<0.0001). A COVID-19 diagnosis was present in 7.6% (132/1,738) of CVT hospitalizations. CVT was present in 0.04% (103/292,080) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. During the first pandemic year, CVT mortality was higher in patients who were COVID positive compared to COVID negative patients (8/53 [15.0%] vs. 41/910 [4.5%], P=0.004). There was an increase in CVT mortality during the first 5 months of pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to the first 5 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019 (2019 vs. 2020: 2.26% vs. 4.74%, P=0.05; 2019 vs. 2021: 2.26% vs. 4.99%, P=0.03). In the first 5 months of 2021, there were 26 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), resulting in six deaths. CONCLUSIONS: During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT.

• Klíčová slova
• COVID-19, Cerebral venous thrombosis, Mortality, SARS-CoV-2, Stroke, Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH