Medtronic
(NYSE: MDT)
announced study findings highlighting significant disparities in cardiac care following stroke.
The DiVERT Stroke clinical study showed that women spent less time in the hospital, saw fewer referrals to cardiology, and were prescribed less frequent post-stroke cardiac monitoring than men when admitted to comprehensive stroke centers following stroke. Investigators presented data last week at the International Stroke Conference (ISC) in Los Angeles.
Medtronic says multiple studies show patients at high risk of AFib post-stroke. In many cases, it can take more than 80 days for AFib to appear, highlighting the need for long-term, insertable cardiac monitoring (ICM). While previous studies demonstrated disparities in stroke care for women compared to men, Medtronic says the full extent remains understudied.
More about the Medtronic post-stroke cardiac care analysis
DiVERT Stroke examined in-hospital care pathways for patients with cryptogenic, large-vessel atherosclerotic disease and small vessel disease stroke subtypes.
A retrospective analysis from DiVERT Stroke found that, among 2,699 patients, female patients (48% of the study participants) were less likely than male patients to receive cardiology referrals during index hospitalization (12.8% vs. 15.5%). Female patients also had a shorter length of stay (6.8 days vs. 7.7 days). They also proved less likely to receive post-stroke cardiac monitoring (19.9% vs. 23%).
Additionally, AFib rate detected post-stroke came in higher for any type of cardiac monitoring vs. non-cardiac monitoring, irrespective of sex. The study saw no sex differences for type of cardiac monitoring (external vs. insertable cardiac monitors).
Medtronic plans for DiVERT Stroke Phase II to evaluate opportunities to improve workflow deficiencies. That includes referral pathways, potentially helping to minimize disparities in care.
“Women have a higher lifetime risk of stroke compared to men, and yet these findings suggest that when it comes to post-stroke care, women are seeing cardiology less often and getting less cardiac monitoring care than their male counterparts,” said Dr. David Z. Rose, professor of vascular neurology at University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine at Tampa General Hospital and lead investigator in the DiVERT Stroke study who presented the data at the meeting. “Standardizing care pathways between neurology and cardiology is one way to help ensure more stroke patients receive guideline-informed cardiac monitoring after a stroke. Further research on this topic is needed and may include artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.”
