Conference Papers
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This collection contains abstracts of conference papers, presented at local and international conferences by the staff of the Faculty of Medicine
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Item Premorbid blood pressure control of incident transient ischaemic attacks and strokes; prevalence and determinants; Analysis of individual patient data over 10 Years(Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2017) Mettananda, C.; Li, L.; Lau, G.; Wharton, R.; Bull, L.; McCulloch, E.; Welch, S.; Mehta, Z.; Silver, L.; Rothwell, P.; Oxford Vascular StudyBACKGROUND: Uncontrolled blood pressure is the most important modifiable risk factor for strokes. AIMS AND METHODS: We determined the prevalence and determinants of blood pressure control in patients with incident transient ischaemic attacks(TIA) and strokes from 2002-2012 in a population-based cohort(Oxford Vascular Study). Controlled blood pressure(BP) was defined as having BP<140/90mmHg and was studied in different cardiovascular risk groups according to the Framingham 10-year general cardiovascular risk(CV-Risk) predicted at time of event and 10years pre-event; low(≤ 10%), moderate(11-19%) and high(≥ 20%) risk. We also studied the associations of controlled BP adjusted for age and sex. RESULTS: Among 1741 patients with incident TIA/strokes, 1051 (60.4%) had known hypertension, of which 891 (84.8%) were on anti-hypertensive treatment. However, only 698 (40.1%) of all and 306 (29.1%) of treated patients had controlled BP. On predicted 10-year CV-Risk at event, 861 (72.5%) of 1188 (77.0%) in high risk group had known hypertension, of which 758 (88.0%) were on treatment. However, only 346 (29.1%) of all in high-risk group and 190 (25.1%) of treated high risk patients had controlled BP. In contrast, 120 (88.2%) of 136 (8.8%) in low risk group had controlled BP. Risk stratification without scoring for BP showed consistent results except the number in high-risk group dropped to 863 (55.9%). Analysis with CV-risk 10years pre-event also showed similar trends. Age(adjusted OR=0.97, 95%CI=0.97-0.98, p<0.001), high CV-risk at event/10years pre-event (0.97, 0.95-0.99, p<0.013, 0.95-0.99, p=0.008), being treated for hypertension(0.43, 0.35-0.52, p<0.001), BMI≥ 30Kg/m2(0.72, 0.55-0.92, p=0.010) and high total cholesterol(0.91, 0.84-0.99, p<0.026) were negatively associated with controlled BP. However history of atrial fibrillation(1.35, 1.03-1.77, p=0.030) and physical dependency(modified-Rankin-Scale>2; 1.54, 1.15-2.06, p<0.001) were positively associated with controlled BP. CONCLUSIONS: Premorbid blood pressure control in patients with incident TIA/strokes was inadequate especially in high-risk patients. Controlling BP to targets in elderly and high CV-risk patients would be important in reducing incident TIA/strokes.Item Epidemiology of stroke subtypes and aetiology among Sri Lankan stroke patients(Sage Publishing, 2020) Mettananda, C.; Wettasinghe, L,; Eshani, M.D.P.; Ranawaka, U.BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Prevalence of stroke is on the rise in south Asia and the epidemiology is different to western countries. However, prevalence of stroke subtypes and aetiology is not reported of Sri Lanka. Therefore, we aimed to describe the same of Sri Lanka. METHODS: We analyzed all the acute stroke admissions to a stroke unit of a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka over 5 year from October 2013 to 2018. Data were collected prospectively using an interviewer administered questionnaire by interviewing patients and perusing medical records. Ischaemic strokes were classified on OCSP (Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project) and TOAST(Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) classifications RESULTS: 891 patients were admitted to stroke unit over 5 years; 765(85.5%) ischaemic strokes, 129 (14.5%) intracerebral haemorrhages (ICH), and 0(0%) sub-arachnoid haemorrhages (SAH). Of the ischemic strokes 16(1.8%) were total anterior circulation, 253(29.0%) partial anterior circulation, 543(62.3%) lacunar, 59(6.8%) posterior circulation infarcts on OCSP classification. 542 of ischaemic stroke patients who had complete investigations for TOAST classification were studied for aetiology of stroke. Atrial fibrillation was reported in only 14(2.7%) and more than 50% carotid stenosis was seen in 22(4.1%) ischaemic stroke patients. 17(3.1%) were of large artery atherosclerosis, 369(68.1%) small vessel occlusion, 11(2.0%) cardioembolic and 145(26.8%) undermined aetiology. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of ischaemic strokes, ICH and SAH were not different to western statistics in this Sri Lankan cohort of stroke patients. However, cardio-embolic and large artery strokes were less common compared to west and lacunar strokes were the commonest of ischemic strokes.Item Audit of stroke care in a Sri Lankan stroke unit(Asia Pacific Stroke Organization, Hong Kong Stroke Society and Jiangsu Stroke Association & Karger publishing, 2017) Ranawaka, U.; Tissera, G.; Silva, S.; Nanayakkara, Y.; Goonetilleke, C.; Muwanwella, P.; Sooryabandara, V.; Hill, K.; Markus, R.BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE: Data on quality of stroke care is limited from Sri Lanka, and available data suggests poor quality of care. We sought to evaluate quality of care in a Sri Lankan tertiary care centre using internationally accepted criteria. METHODS: All patients admitted with acute stroke to the Stroke Unit of the Colombo North Teaching Hospital, Ragama over a 2-year period (January 2015-December 2016) were prospectively enrolled. Stroke care was evaluated with the Stroke Foundation, Australia Acute Stroke Audit Tool. RESULTS: 156 patients were studied {54.5% males; mean age (SD) 59 years (9.3); 83.3% ischaemic stroke}. 92.3% were living with spouse/ family. Private transport was the mode of arrival in 87.8%. CT scanning was done in 92.2%. None of the patients received thrombolysis. 39.7% were functionally independent (mRS 0–2) at 7–10 days. 71.6% were discharged on anti-hypertensive. Of those with ischemic stroke, 88.2% received anti-platelets and 95.5% statins. Swallowing screening was done in 92.5%, and for mal swallowing assessment by a speech therapist in 52.6%. Assessment by a physiotherapist was done in 96.7%, occupational therapist in 85.8%, mental health specialist in 96.8%, and communication assessment by a speech therapist in 76.6%. Multi-disciplinary team met with care-givers in 83.1%. Care-giver needs assessment was done in 96.1%, and 90.3% of care-givers received training in home care.52.6% were discharged home with rehabilitation support, and 32.1% were transferred for in-patient rehabilitation. All patients/care-givers received education before dis charge, 96.1% received a community care plan, and 93.5% were given a discharge summary. CONCLUSION: Quality of acute stroke care was satisfactory in almost all the domains studied. Care related to neuro-imaging, secondary preventive treatments, multi-disciplinary team assessment, provision of early rehabilitation services, patient education, care giver support and discharge planning was especially good. Stroke care of good quality is feasible even in resource-limited settings.Item Carotid artery stenosis in patients with ischaemic stroke in a tertiary care centre: Prevalence and associated factors(Ceylon College of Physicians, 2019) Ranawaka, U.K.; Mettananda, K.C.D.; Eshani, M.D.P.; Wettasinghe, L.M.; Somaratne, S.; Premadasa, H.M.S.D.; Sirigampola, C.; Upasena, A.; Sathkorala, W.; Pathmeswaran, A.OBJECTIVES: Data on the prevalence of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) among Sri Lankan stroke patients is limited. We sought to determine the prevalence and associated factors of significant CAS in patients with ischaemic stroke admitted to a Sri Lankan stroke unit. METHODS: We prospectively studied all stroke patients admitted to a stroke unit in a tertiary care hospital over a five-year period. Presence and degree of CAS was evaluated by doppler ultrasonography (US). Degree of CAS was classified as low {<50%), moderate (50-69%), significant (70-99%) or total occlusion (100%) according to NASCET criteria. Factors associated with significant CAS were identified by stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Out of 867 stroke patients studied, 704 (81.2%) had ischaemic strokes (59.7% male, mean age 59.0 ± 10.3 years), and 550 (78.1%) of them had carotid doppler data available. 528 (96.0%) had low degree stenosis, 12 (2.2%) had moderate stenosis, 7 (1.3%) had significant stenosis and 3 (0.5%) had total occlusion. Older age was associated with significant CAS (OR 1.14, p=0.011) on stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis. Sex, smoking, BMI, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia or ischemic heart disease, and premorbid aspirin or statin use were not associated with significant CAS. CONCLUSIONS: Significant CAS is seen in only 1.8% of Sri Lankan patients with ischaemic stroke at this tertiary care centre. These figures are much lower compared to Western data. Our findings have implications for the use of management approaches such as thrombectomy and carotid endarterectomy in Sri Lankan patients. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: EMDP and WLM were supported by a research grant from the National Stroke Association of Sri Lanka.Item The Adaptation and Validation of Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life (SAQOL-39) Scale for the Sinhala Language in the Sri Lankan Context.(19th Conference on Postgraduate Research, International Postgraduate Research Conference 2018, Faculty of Graduate Studies,University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Karunathilake, K.M.M.G.S.L.; Rathnayake, S.; Ranawaka, U.K.Stroke and aphasia rehabilitation aims to improve the quality of life of the individuals affected. Aphasia is a disturbance of the language. Most of scales for measuring health-related quality of life in stroke exclude people with aphasia due to inability to communicate during the questionnaires. However, it is vital to identify the effect on quality of life among individuals with aphasia to provide proper rehabilitation. No reliable measure was developed in Sri Lankan context to analyze this, which became the research question of the present study. The Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 which is the commonest, valid and reliable measures was used in assessing quality of life among aphasia and it was analyzed applying to the Sri Lankan context. The following were the aims of the study, translate and adapt the (SAQOL-39) Scale for the Sinhala Language in the Sri Lankan context, identify its reliability and validity, identify the relationship between the severity level of communication and the quality of life level and analyze the most affected domain among aphasia population. The original (English) version of the SAQOL-39 has been adapted and translated using Delphi method. The sociocultural and linguistically adapted Sinhala version was administered on a group of 35 patients with aphasia to examine the test-retest reliability, inter rater reliability internal consistency reliability as well as the concurrent validity of the instrument. The inclusion criteria of the study population were as following, Aphasia resulting from a stroke at least after 6 months from the onset and not with the evidence of psychiatric illnesses and cognitive difficulty. 10 patients were used for the test retest assessment. And for the inter rater reliability assessment 2 raters were used. The Sinhala version of SAQOL-39 exhibited high test-retest reliability (ICC =0.83) as well as the inter rater reliability (ICC=0.99). This instrument exhibited high internal consistency (Chronbach's∝ =0.845) and also the concurrent validity was examined with the WHOQOL BREF and found a significant correlation between SAQOL-39 and WHOQOL-BREF (r=0.75, p=0.000). The most affected domain of the aphasia patients as the communication domain was identified through this study and it was also identified that there is a significant positive correlation (r=0.685, p=0.000) between the severity level of aphasia and quality of life. Despite the small sample size, the Sinhala version of the SAQOL-39 showed good internal consistency, inter rater reliability, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity. The importance of communication ability in perceiving the quality of life in patients with aphasia has also been highlighted.Item Stroke subtypes in Sri Lanka(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1997) Gunatilake, S.B.; Premawardhena, A.AIM: Data on stroke subtypes in Sri Lanka are limited. This is due to the unavailability of brain imaging facilities in most government hospitals in the country. In two leading private hospitals in Colombo, a high proportion of stroke patients are subjected to computerised tomography (CT) scanning. Therefore it was decide to study the stroke patients admitted to these two hospitals to determine the stroke subtypes METHODS: A prospective study of 103 consecutive first -ever stroke patients who were under the eare of the first author during the period 15lhMay 1995 lo30th August 1996 were studied. Diagnosis of stroke was made according to the WI10 definition. Transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) were not included in the study. The pathological subtype was confirmed by CT scan in 99 patients RESULTS: The age of the patients ranged from 37 to 94 years (mean 65y). 87 patients were over the age of 50 years. The proportion of pathological subtypes confirmed by CT scanning was cerebral infarction (CI) 74%, intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) 19% and subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAII) 6%. Of the 74 infarcts 31 (23%) were cortical, 30 (22%) were lacunar, 12(9%) were cerebellar and brains tern and 1 (0.7%) was a border zone infarct, In-hospilal mortality was 19% for all strokes: 14% for infarcts and 35% for haemorrhages. Mortality was lowest in (he lacunar stroke group (3%). In the cortical infarct group the mortality was 16%, in the ICH group 22% and in the SAM group 50%. CONCLUSION: Direct comparisons with stroke subtypes seen in other countries are not possible due to differences in methodology. In developed countries in the West cerebral infarcs account for about 80% of alI first-ever strokes and of these 13 to 21% are lacunar strokes. Countries in the East like Japan and Hongkong have reported higher proportion of haemorrhages; 27% of first-ever strokes in Hong Kong. In Sri Lanka The proportion of stroke subtypes seem to be intermediate between these countries from die west and east. Lacunar .stroke .seem to be commoner in Sri Lanka than in other countries. These differences may be because of differences in risk factors prevalent in our country.Item Hyperhomocysteinaemia and stroke: a case-control study(Sri Lanka Medical Assosiation, 2004) Ranawaka, U.K.; Niriella, M.A.; Hewamadduma, C.A.A.; Kanakkahewa, N.; Thilakarathna, N.T.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Wijesekera, J.C.OBJECTIVES: We sought to identify the importance of hyperhomocysteinaemia as an independent risk factor for stroke. METHODOLOGY: This was a case control study of patients with stroke (n=48) and pair matched controls (age and sex matched; n=48) at the Institute of Neurology, NHSL. Prior ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of the SLMA. Fasting total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) was compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the contribution of hyperhomocysteinaemia as a risk factor for stroke, after controlling for other risk factors, using the 50th percentile of tHcy among controls (tHcy 50) as cut-off value. All strokes (n=48) and ischaemic strokes (n=43) were analysed separately. RESULTS: Cases (mean age = 55.69 years) and controls (mean age = 54.64 years) were well matched. tHcy among controls (mean=16.5l umol/1) was higher than observed from elsewhere, even after excluding those with vascular risk factors (mean=13.8 umol/1). The mean tHcy levels were significantly higher in cases (23.12 umol/1) than in controls (16.51 umol/1, p<0.001). There was no significant difference in tHcy between ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes, and lacunar and non-lacunar strokes. Logistic regression analysis showed that tHcy 50 was an independent risk factor for haemorrhagic strokes (OR 2.583, p=0.05), and for ischaemic strokes (OR 2.663, p=0.05). CONCLUSION: tHcy levels may be higher than usual among Sri Lankan populations. Hyperhocysteinaemia is an independent risk factor for stroke.Item Differences in ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes in Sri Lanka: 7-year data from the Ragama Stroke Registry(American Academy of Neurology & Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2015) Ranawaka, U.; Peiris, A.; Thirumavalavan, K.; Premawansa, G.; Kasturiratne, A.OBJECTIVE:We sought to describe the differences in stroke characteristics of patients with ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke attending a Sri Lankan tertiary care hospital. BACKGROUND:The burden of stroke in South Asia is high, but epidemiological data are limited from the region. DESIGN/METHODS:The Ragama Stroke Registry is the first comprehensive stroke registry in Sri Lanka capturing data of all stroke patients admitted to an entire hospital. We collected data from all consenting patients with stroke admitted to the Colombo North Teaching Hospital over a seven-year period. We compared data from ischaemic stroke patients (IS group) with intracerebral haemorrhage patients (ICH group) regarding demographic characteristics, clinical features, risk factors, stroke severity and early disability. RESULTS:A total of 2690 patients were studied [mean age (SD) 64.4 (12.3) years; 58.6[percnt] males]; IS group- 2185 patients (81.3[percnt]); ICH group- 411 patients (15.3[percnt]). No differences were noted in age & sex distribution between ICH and IS groups. ICH patients presented to hospital earlier (<6 hours- ICH 74.5[percnt], IS 54.0[percnt], p<0.05). Altered consciousness, dysphasia, dysphagia, gaze palsy and bladder involvement were commoner among ICH patients (p<0.05). Previous history of stroke/ TIA, diabetes, heart disease, obesity/overweight and smoking were commoner in IS group. ICH patients presented with more severe strokes (NIHSS score >7 in ICH 67.6[percnt] vs. IS 43.8[percnt], p<0.05), and had more severe initial disability according to Barthel index and modified Rankin scale (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Clinical and risk factor profiles were different between ICH and IS patients. Stroke severity and functional disability were higher among ICH patients. Study Supported by:Ragama Stroke Registry has been partly supported by research grants from the University of Kelaniya and Research Institute, International Medical Centre of Japan. Disclosure: Dr. Ranawaka has nothing to disclose. Dr. Peiris has nothing to disclose. Dr. Thirumavalavan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Premawansa has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kasthuriratne has nothing to disclose.