Advancing Knowledge in Ischemic Stroke Patients on Oral Anticoagulants

To be part of this study, you need to meet certain requirements. You must be at least 18 years old and have received a clear diagnosis of an ischemic stroke. This diagnosis needs to be supported by a brain scan that shows a clot-related injury consistent with your symptoms.

You also need to have been taking specific oral (by mouth) blood-thinning medication at the time your stroke symptoms started. This means either a 'direct oral anticoagulant' (DOAC), with your last dose taken within 48 hours, or a 'vitamin K antagonist' (VKA, like warfarin) with your blood clotting levels (INR) in a certain range. Crucially, you must also have a previous diagnosis of atrial fibrillation or another similar heart condition that increases your risk of clots.

However, you wouldn't be able to join if your symptoms weren't typical of an acute stroke (for example, if you just fainted or had only dizziness). Also, if you were receiving blood thinners through an injection into a vein or under the skin at the time of your stroke, you wouldn't be eligible.

If you are eligible, your participation in this study would mainly involve your medical information being collected. For the 'retrospective' part of the study, researchers will gather information from your existing medical records from up to five years ago. For the 'prospective' part, if you are a new patient joining after your stroke, researchers will collect details about your condition and health journey as it happens. This includes information about your demographic details, clinical symptoms, and brain scan results. You would then be followed up for your health outcomes at 90 days, 1 year, and 5 years after your stroke. This could involve researchers checking your medical records or potentially brief check-ins to monitor your health and any future events like another stroke or bleeding. There are no new medications to take or specific clinic visits required solely for this study.