Can We Use Observational Data To Improve Clinical Management of Stroke Patients?

Reem Waziry, MD, MPH, PhD

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) contributed the most to our knowledge to date in management of stroke patients. Despite the strengths of RCTs, they can be very costly and sometimes not feasible.

In this year AHA Scientific Sessions, Jonathan P. Piccini, MD highlighted areas where observational data have been informative to address difficult clinical questions that couldn’t be addressed by RCTs alone. Key areas include: the role of bleeding scores in guiding stroke prevention treatment decisions1, withholding oral anticoagulation in patients with significant contraindications2, the role of oral anticoagulants in improving prognosis of patients with end-stage renal disease3, and the role of concomitant aspirin in improving outcomes in patients on oral anticoagulant therapy4. Thus, there are many examples where observational data provided key insights in management of stroke patients (from a clinical epidemiology perspective) on risk factors, disease progression, treatment utilization and its patterns, comparative safety and effectiveness. Most importantly, those investigations were key to highlight knowledge gaps and generate hypotheses to guide or build on existing RCTs data.

Moving forward, to further advance the translation of observational data to clinical practice, there is a need for: 1) collaborative efforts to merge diverse observational data sets, and 2) more focused investigations to refine our analytical methods with specific applications in the stroke population.

 

REFERENCES

  1. Pisters, R., Lane, D. A., Nieuwlaat, R., De Vos, C. B., Crijns, H. J., & Lip, G. Y. (2010). A novel user-friendly score (HAS-BLED) to assess 1-year risk of major bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation: the Euro Heart Survey.Chest, 138(5), 1093-1100.
  2. Shah, M., Avgil Tsadok, M., Jackevicius, C. A., Essebag, V., Eisenberg, M. J., Rahme, E., … & Pilote, L. (2014). Warfarin use and the risk for stroke and bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing dialysis.Circulation, 129(11), 1196-1203.
  3. Pokorney, S. D., Simon, D. N., Thomas, L., Gersh, B. J., Hylek, E. M., Piccini, J. P., & Peterson, E. D. (2016). Stability of international normalized ratios in patients taking long-term warfarin therapy.Jama, 316(6), 661-663.
  4. Hsu, J. C., Maddox, T. M., Kennedy, K. F., Katz, D. F., Marzec, L. N., Lubitz, S. A., … & Marcus, G. M. (2016). Oral anticoagulant therapy prescription in patients with atrial fibrillation across the spectrum of stroke risk: insights from the NCDR PINNACLE registry.JAMA cardiology, 1(1), 55-62.

 

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