Abstract
Background: Insight in differences in patient outcomes between endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) centers can help to improve stroke care. We assessed between-center variation in functional outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke who were treated with EVT. We analyzed to what extent this variation may be explained by modifiable center characteristics. Methods: We used nationwide registry data of patients with stroke treated with EVT in the Netherlands and in the Czech Republic. Primary outcome was modified Rankin Scale score at 90 days as an indicator of disability. We used multilevel ordinal logistic regression to quantify the between-center variation in outcomes and the impact of patient and center characteristics. Between-center variation was expressed as the relative difference in odds of a more favorable modified Rankin Scale score between a relatively better performing center (75th percentile) and a relatively worse performing center (25th percentile). Results: We included a total of 4518 patients treated in 33 centers. Adjusted for patient characteristics, the odds of a more favorable outcome in a center at the 75th percentile of the outcome distribution were 1.46 times higher (95% CI, 1.31-1.70) than the odds in a center at the 25th percentile. Adjustment for center characteristics, including the median time between stroke onset and reperfusion per center, decreased this relative difference in odds to 1.30 (95% CI, 1.18-1.50, P=0.01). This translates into an absolute difference in likelihood of good functional outcome of 8% after adjustment for patient characteristics and to 5% after further adjustment for modifiable center characteristics. Conclusions: The considerable between-center variation in patient outcomes after EVT for acute ischemic stroke could be largely explained by center-specific characteristics, such as time to reperfusion. Improvement of these parameters may likely result in a decrease in center-specific differences, and an overall improvement in outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 212-221 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 31 Jan 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Dr van der Worp served as a consultant to Bayer and LivaNova for which his institution received fees. Dr van der Worp received a research grant from Stryker via the CONTRAST consortium. Dr Majoie received funds from TWIN Foundation (related to this project, paid to institution); and from CVON/Dutch Heart Foundation, Stryker, European Commission (unrelated; all paid to institution). Dr Majoie is shareholder of Nico.lab, a company that focuses on the use of artificial intelligence for medical imaging analysis. Dr Dippel reports funding from the Dutch Heart Foundation, Brain Foundation Netherlands, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, Health Holland Top Sector Life Sciences & Health, and unrestricted grants from Penumbra Inc, Stryker European Operations BV, Medtronic, Thrombolytic Science, LLC and Cerenovus for research, all paid to institution. The other authors report no conflicts.
Funding Information:
The MR CLEAN (Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands) registry was partly funded by TWIN Foundation, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Maastricht University Medical Center, and Amsterdam UMC. Dr Mikulik was supported by the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Association, project no. CA18118, IRENE COST Action - Implementation Research Network in Stroke Care Quality; by the IRIS-TEPUS project no. LTC20051 from the INTER-EXCELLENCE INTER-COST program of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic; and by STROCZECH within CZECRIN Large Research Infrastructure (no. LM2018128) funded by the state budget of the Czech Republic.
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