Background and Purpose: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, doctors and public authorities have demonstrated concern about the reduction in quality of care for other health conditions due to social restrictions and lack of resources. Using a population-based stroke registry, we investigated the impact of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in stroke admissions in Joinville, Brazil. Methods: Patients admitted after the onset of COVID-19 restrictions in the city (defined as March 17, 2020) were compared with those admitted in 2019. We analyzed differences between stroke incidence, types, severity, reperfusion therapies, and time from stroke onset to admission. Statistical tests were also performed to compare the 30 days before and after COVID-19 to the same period in 2019. Results: We observed a decrease in total stroke admissions from an average of 12.9/100 000 per month in 2019 to 8.3 after COVID-19 ( P =0.0029). When compared with the same period in 2019, there was a 36.4% reduction in stroke admissions. There was no difference in admissions for severe stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score >8), intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Conclusions: The onset of COVID-19 was correlated with a reduction in admissions for transient, mild, and moderate strokes. Given the need to prevent the worsening of symptoms and the occurrence of medical complications in these groups, a reorganization of the stroke-care networks is necessary to reduce collateral damage caused by COVID-19.

The referral timing was predominantly late. The late referral was associated with a greater mortality. Other variables associated with a greater mortality were age of 70 or more, presence of diabetes and the use of catheter by the dialysis onset.

Background The RESILIENT trial demonstrated the clinical benefit of mechanical thrombectomy in patients presenting acute ischemic stroke secondary to anterior circulation large vessel occlusion in Brazil. Aims This economic evaluation aims to assess the cost-utility of mechanical thrombectomy in the RESILIENT trial from a public healthcare perspective. Methods A cost-utility analysis was applied to compare mechanical thrombectomy plus standard medical care (n = 78) vs. standard medical care alone (n = 73), from a subset sample of the RESILIENT trial (151 of 221 patients). Real-world direct costs were considered, and utilities were imputed according to the Utility-Weighted modified Rankin Score. A Markov model was structured, and probabilistic and deterministic sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the robustness of results. Results The incremental costs and quality-adjusted life years gained with mechanical thrombectomy plus standard medical care were estimated at Int$ 7440 and 1.04, respectively, compared to standard medical care alone, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of Int$ 7153 per quality-adjusted life year. The deterministic sensitivity analysis demonstrated that mRS-6 costs of the first year most affected the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. After 1000 simulations, most of results were below the cost-effective threshold. Conclusions The intervention's clear long-term benefits offset the initially higher costs of mechanical thrombectomy in the Brazilian public healthcare system. Such therapy is likely to be cost-effective and these results were crucial to incorporate mechanical thrombectomy in the Brazilian public stroke centers.

Resumo Fundamento Ensaios clínicos randomizados (ECRs) e estudos observacionais compararam a eficácia e a segurança do implante valvar transcateter (TAVR) e da substituição cirúrgica da valva aórtica (SAVR) em pacientes com estenose aórtica grave. Objetivos Comparar TAVR e SAVR em pacientes com diferentes riscos cirúrgicos, características da população e diferentes válvulas protéticas transcateter. Métodos Uma overview das revisões sistemáticas (RSs) foi realizada seguindo um protocolo estruturado. Os resultados foram agrupados por risco cirúrgico, características da população e diferentes válvulas. Os ECRs foram reanalisados por meio de metanálises nas RSs, e os resultados foram resumidos por meio do método GRADE. O nível de significância estatística adotado foi de 5%. Resultados Em comparação com a SAVR, os pacientes com alto risco cirúrgico submetidos à TAVR tiveram um risco menor de ( odds ratio , intervalo de confiança de 95%, diferença absoluta de risco) fibrilação atrial (FA) (0,5, 0,29-0,86, -106/1000) e hemorragia com risco à vida (0,29, 0,2-0,42, -215/1000). Pacientes com risco cirúrgico intermediário apresentaram menor risco de FA (0,27, 0,23-0,33, -255/1.000), hemorragia com risco à vida (0,15, 0,12-0,19, -330/1.000) e insuficiência renal aguda (IRA) (0,4, 0,26-0,62, -21/1000). Pacientes com baixo risco cirúrgico tiveram menor risco de morte (0,58, 0,34-0,97, -16/1000), acidente vascular encefálico (AVE) (0,51, 0,28-0,94, -15/1000), FA (0,16, 0,12-0,2, -295/1000), hemorragia com risco à vida (0,17, 0,05-0,55, -76/1000) e IRA (0,27, 0,13-0,55, -21/1000) e tiveram maior risco de implante de marca-passo definitivo (IMD) (4,22, 1,27 -14.02, 141/1000). Os dispositivos de geração mais recente tiveram um risco menor de FA em comparação com as gerações mais antigas, e pacientes usuários de dispositivos expansíveis por balão não apresentaram riscos maiores de IMD. Conclusões Este artigo apresenta evidências de que pacientes com risco cirúrgico baixo, intermediário e alto apresentam melhores desfechos quando tratados com TAVR em comparação com a SAVR.

The unsustainable increases in healthcare expenses and waste have motivated the migration of reimbursement strategies from volume to value. Value-based health care requires detailed comprehension of cost information at the patient level. This study introduces a clinical risk- and outcome-adjusted cost estimate model for stroke care sustained on time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). In a cohort and multicenter study, a TDABC tool was developed to evaluate the costs per stroke patient, allowing us to identify and describe differences in cost by clinical risk at hospital arrival, treatment strategies, and modified Rankin Score (mRS) at discharge. The clinical risk was confirmed by multivariate analysis and considered patients’ National Institute for Health Stroke Scale and age. Descriptive cost analyses were conducted, followed by univariate and multivariate models to evaluate the risk levels, therapies, and mRS stratification effect in costs. Then, the risk-adjusted cost estimate model for ischemic stroke treatment was introduced. All the hospitals collected routine prospective data from consecutive patients admitted with ischemic stroke diagnosis confirmed. A total of 822 patients were included. The median cost was I$2,210 (IQR: I$1,163-4,504). Fifty percent of the patients registered a favorable outcome mRS (0-2), costing less at all risk levels, while patients with the worst mRS (5-6) registered higher costs. Those undergoing mechanical thrombectomy had an incremental cost for all three risk levels, but this difference was lower for high-risk patients. Estimated costs were compared to observed costs per risk group, and there were no significant differences in most groups, validating the risk and outcome adjusted cost estimate model. By introducing a risk-adjusted cost estimate model, this study elucidates how healthcare delivery systems can generate local cost information to support value-based reimbursement strategies employing the data collection instruments and analysis developed in this study.

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Background: It is unknown if improvements in ischemic stroke (IS) outcomes reported after cerebral reperfusion therapies (CRT) in developed countries are also applicable to the “real world” scenario of low-and-middle income countries. We aimed to measure the long-term outcomes of severe IS treated or not with CRT in Brazil. Methods: There were included patients from a stroke center of a state-run hospital. We compared the survival probability and functional status at 3 and 12 months in patients with severe IS treated or not with CRT. From 2010 to 2011, we performed intravenous reperfusion when patients arrived within 4.5 h time-window (IVT group) and after 2011, mechanical thrombectomy (MT) combined or not with intravenous alteplase (IAT group). Those who arrived > 4.5 h in 2010-2011 and > 6 h in 2012-2017 did not undergo CRT (NCRT group). Results: From 2010 to 2017, we registered 917 patients: 74% (677/917) in the NCRT group, 19% (178/917) in the IVT group and 7% (62/917) in the IAT group. Compared to the NCRT group, IVT patients had a 28% higher (HR:0.72; 95% CI 0.53-0.96) 3-month adjusted probability of survival and a risk of functional dependence 19% lower (adjusted RR:0.81; 95% CI 0.73-0.91). For those who underwent MT, the adjusted probability of survival was 59 % higher (HR:0.41; 95% CI 0.21-0.77) and the risk of functional dependence, 21 % lower (adjusted RR:0.79; 95% CI 0.66-094). These outcomes remained significantly better throughout the first year. Conclusion: CRT led to better outcomes in patients with severe IS in Brazil.

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