3 research outputs found

    Prediction of functional outcome after acute ischemic stroke : comparison of the CT-DRAGON score and a reduced features set

    Get PDF
    Background and Purpose:The CT-DRAGON score was developed to predict long-term functional outcome after acute stroke in the anterior circulation treated by thrombolysis. Its implementation in clinical practice may be hampered by its plethora of variables. The current study was designed to develop and evaluate an alternative score, as a reduced set of features, derived from the original CT-DRAGON score. Methods:This single-center retrospective study included 564 patients treated for stroke, in the anterior and the posterior circulation. At 90 days, favorable [modified Rankin Scale score (mRS) of 0-2] and miserable outcome (mRS of 5-6) were predicted by the CT-DRAGON in 427 patients. Bootstrap forests selected the most relevant parameters of the CT-DRAGON, in order to develop a reduced set of features. Discrimination, calibration and misclassification of both models were tested. Results:The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for the CT-DRAGON was 0.78 (95% CI 0.74-0.81) for favorable and 0.78 (95% CI 0.72-0.83) for miserable outcome. Misclassification was 29% for favorable and 13.5% for miserable outcome, with a 100% specificity for the latter. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), pre-stroke mRS and age were identified as the strongest contributors to favorable and miserable outcome and named the reduced features set. While CT-DRAGON was only available in 323 patients (57%), the reduced features set could be calculated in 515 patients (91%) (p < 0.001). Misclassification was 25.8% for favorable and 14.4% for miserable outcome, with a 97% specificity for miserable outcome. The reduced features set had better discriminative power than CT-DRAGON for both outcomes (both p < 0.005), with an AUROC of 0.82 (95% CI 0.79-0.86) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.77-0.87) for favorable and miserable outcome, respectively. Conclusions:The CT-DRAGON score revealed acceptable discrimination in our cohort of both anterior and posterior circulation strokes, receiving all treatment modalities. The reduced features set could be measured in a larger cohort and with better discrimination. However, the reduced features set needs further validation in a prospective, multicentre study

    Natalizumab treatment shows low cumulative probabilities of confirmed disability worsening to EDSS milestones in the long-term setting.

    Get PDF
    Abstract Background Though the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is commonly used to assess disability level in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), the criteria defining disability progression are used for patients with a wide range of baseline levels of disability in relatively short-term trials. As a result, not all EDSS changes carry the same weight in terms of future disability, and treatment benefits such as decreased risk of reaching particular disability milestones may not be reliably captured. The objectives of this analysis are to assess the probability of confirmed disability worsening to specific EDSS milestones (i.e., EDSS scores ≥3.0, ≥4.0, or ≥6.0) at 288 weeks in the Tysabri Observational Program (TOP) and to examine the impact of relapses occurring during natalizumab therapy in TOP patients who had received natalizumab for ≥24 months. Methods TOP is an ongoing, open-label, observational, prospective study of patients with RRMS in clinical practice. Enrolled patients were naive to natalizumab at treatment initiation or had received ≤3 doses at the time of enrollment. Intravenous natalizumab (300 mg) infusions were given every 4 weeks, and the EDSS was assessed at baseline and every 24 weeks during treatment. Results Of the 4161 patients enrolled in TOP with follow-up of at least 24 months, 3253 patients with available baseline EDSS scores had continued natalizumab treatment and 908 had discontinued (5.4% due to a reported lack of efficacy and 16.4% for other reasons) at the 24-month time point. Those who discontinued due to lack of efficacy had higher baseline EDSS scores (median 4.5 vs. 3.5), higher on-treatment relapse rates (0.82 vs. 0.23), and higher cumulative probabilities of EDSS worsening (16% vs. 9%) at 24 months than those completing therapy. Among 24-month completers, after approximately 5.5 years of natalizumab treatment, the cumulative probabilities of confirmed EDSS worsening by 1.0 and 2.0 points were 18.5% and 7.9%, respectively (24-week confirmation), and 13.5% and 5.3%, respectively (48-week confirmation). The risks of 24- and 48-week confirmed EDSS worsening were significantly higher in patients with on-treatment relapses than in those without relapses. An analysis of time to specific EDSS milestones showed that the probabilities of 48-week confirmed transition from EDSS scores of 0.0–2.0 to ≥3.0, 2.0–3.0 to ≥4.0, and 4.0–5.0 to ≥6.0 at week 288 in TOP were 11.1%, 11.8%, and 9.5%, respectively, with lower probabilities observed among patients without on-treatment relapses (8.1%, 8.4%, and 5.7%, respectively). Conclusions In TOP patients with a median (range) baseline EDSS score of 3.5 (0.0–9.5) who completed 24 months of natalizumab treatment, the rate of 48-week confirmed disability worsening events was below 15%; after approximately 5.5 years of natalizumab treatment, 86.5% and 94.7% of patients did not have EDSS score increases of ≥1.0 or ≥2.0 points, respectively. The presence of relapses was associated with higher rates of overall disability worsening. These results were confirmed by assessing transition to EDSS milestones. Lower rates of overall 48-week confirmed EDSS worsening and of transitioning from EDSS score 4.0–5.0 to ≥6.0 in the absence of relapses suggest that relapses remain a significant driver of disability worsening and that on-treatment relapses in natalizumab-treated patients are of prognostic importance
    corecore