Stroke and cervical artery dissection and/or aneurysm: 2019-2021 Chilean hospital-based national registry.

BACKGROUND

Cervical artery dissection is one of the main causes of stroke in young adults, yet the characteristics of patients have been mainly described in Caucasian populations. We aimed to identify patients' characteristics associated with stroke among cervical artery dissection patients in Chile.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of a national hospital-based database in Chile between 2019 and 2021. Patients with cervical artery dissection or aneurysm (CeDA) were identified using ICD-10 codes I72.0 (carotid artery) and I72.6 (vertebral artery); stroke events were classified using codes I60-I64. We performed multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the association between patients' characteristics and stroke occurrence. We further performed Poisson regression to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on CeDA admissions.

RESULTS

Of 2,647,398 hospital discharges, we identified 597 CeDA patients (mean [SD] age 57 [15] years; female 384, 64 %). Stroke occurred in 233 (37 %) patients, with ischaemic stroke accounting for 71 % of these events. In the multivariable analysis, stroke occurrence was associated with vertebral artery involvement (OR 2.89; 95 %CI 1.76-4.77), atrial fibrillation (2.25; 1.03-4.90), hypertension (1.85; 1.25-2.74), male sex (1.80; 1.24-2.62) and current smoking (1.78; 1.13-2.80). Hospital admissions for CeDA declined in 2020 (rate ratio [RR] 0.69; 95 %CI 0.57-0.85) and 2021 (0.76; 0.63-0.92), compared with 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

In this Chilean hospital-based database, stroke occurrence among CeDA patients was linked to male sex, vertebral artery involvement, hypertension, current smoking, and atrial fibrillation. Further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and its association with patient prognosis.