Do not resuscitate decisions. Cardiopulmonary resuscitations seems to be exempt from scrutiny of evidence based medicine.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Barer.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Increased free radical formation contributes to the damage caused to the brain by acute ischemia. NXY-059 is a nitrone-based free radical trapping agent in development for acute stroke. NXY-059 has neuroprotective efficacy when given 5 hours after onset of transient focal ischemia in the rat. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, multicenter study that evaluated the safety and tolerability of 2 NXY-059 dosing regimens compared with placebo within 24 hours of acute stroke. NXY-059 was administered as either 250 mg over 1 hour followed by 85 mg/h for 71 hours or 500 mg over 1 hour followed by 170 mg/h for 71 hours; plasma concentrations were monitored. Neurological and functional outcomes were recorded up to 30 days. RESULTS: One hundred fifty patients were recruited, of whom 147 received study treatments and completed assessments (50 placebo, 48 lower-dose NXY-059, 49 higher-dose NXY-059). Mean (+/-SD) age was 68 (+/-10) years, and baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 7.9 (+/-6.2). Serious adverse events occurred in 16%, 23%, and 16% of patients, respectively, with deaths in 0%, 10%, and 4%, largely following the proportions with primary intracerebral hemorrhage (6%, 16%, and 8%). Hyperglycemia, headache, and fever were common but not related to treatment. The mean unbound steady state NXY-059 plasma concentrations were 25 and 45 micromol/L, respectively. Population pharmacokinetic analysis estimated clearance to be 4.6 L/h. CONCLUSIONS: NXY-059 was well tolerated in patients with an acute stroke. The testing of higher doses in future trials may be justified.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of leisure therapy and conventional occupational therapy (OT) on the mood, leisure participation and independence in activities of daily living (ADL) of stroke patients 6 and 12 months after hospital discharge. DESIGN: Multicentre randomized controlled trial. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred and sixty-six stroke patients from five UK centres. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The General Health Questionnaire (12 item), the Nottingham Extended ADL Scale and the Nottingham Leisure Questionnaire, assessed by post, with telephone clarification. RESULTS: Four hundred and forty (94%) and 426 (91%) subjects were alive at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Three hundred and seventy-four (85% of survivors) and 311 (78% of survivors) responded at 6 and 12 month follow-up respectively. At six months and compared to the control group, those allocated to leisure therapy had nonsignificantly better GHQ scores (-1.2: 95% CI -2.9, +0.5), leisure scores (+0.7, 95% CI -1.1, +2.5) and Extended ADL scores (+0.4: 95% CI -3.8, +4.5): the ADL group had nonsignificantly better GHQ scores (-0.1: 95% CI -1.8, +1.7) and Extended ADL scores (+1.4: 95% CI -2.9, +5.6) and nonsignificantly worse leisure scores (-0.3: 95% CI -2.1, +1.6). The results at 12 months were similar. CONCLUSION: In contrast to the findings of previous smaller trials, neither of the additional OT treatments showed a clear beneficial effect on mood, leisure activity or independence in ADL measured at 6 or 12 months.
Many speech and language therapy (SLT) departments are in danger of being swamped with dysphagia referrals, often to the detriment of other work. At the same time surveys have shown that large numbers of patients with acute stroke have swallowing problems which are poorly managed during the critical early phase, not referred or missed altogether. The Collaborative Dysphagia Audit (CODA) study, carried out in six British hospitals, showed that nurses could quickly be trained to carry out basic screening assessments for dysphagia and that implementation of a co-ordinated inter-disciplinary dysphagia management policy (DMP) could substantially improve the proportion of dysphagic patients in whom appropriate feeding precautions were taken. These early DMPs were limited by the need for ward staff to keep all patients with suspected swallowing impairment nil by mouth until assessed by SLT, so in some acute stroke units nurses have been trained to a higher level which allows them to manage most routine transient swallowing problems, leaving only complex or persistent cases for referral to SLT. This approach has been used successfully in our unit in Gateshead, where a dysphagia nurse specialist post has been set up to act as a link between ward staff and SLTs, to ensure that the necessary training levels are maintained and to co-ordinate the DMP.
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In the 4 years since our first article, there has been considerable progress in our understanding of the pathophysiology of acute ischaemic stroke, and the results of well-conducted trials have at last begun to change everyday clinical practice. The timing of the various processes of the ischaemic cascade and the potential time windows for different interventions are better understood. Furthermore, the importance of maintaining cerebral perfusion and optimizing systemic physiological and biochemical factors in order to prevent neurological deterioration ('progressing stroke') is increasingly being realized. Numerous antithrombotic and neuroprotective drugs have been evaluated in clinical trials, and while none has shown unequivocal benefits on its own, prospects for successful intervention are still good. This will probably involve different combinations of treatments targeted on different pathophysiological stroke types, so that the management of acute stroke will offer a considerable challenge to the stroke physicians of the future.
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