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Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with functional stroke mimics: a case–control study from Southern Portugal

dc.contributor.authorFigueira Domingos, Miguel
dc.contributor.authorSilva, Vítor Hugo
dc.contributor.authorSchuh, Sara
dc.contributor.authorCorreia, Helena
dc.contributor.authorPalma, Pedro
dc.contributor.authorPedro, João Pedroso
dc.contributor.authorNova, Bruno Vila
dc.contributor.authorMarreiros, Ana
dc.contributor.authorFélix, Ana Catarina
dc.contributor.authorNzwalo, Hipólito
dc.date.accessioned2025-03-12T13:48:31Z
dc.date.available2025-03-12T13:48:31Z
dc.date.issued2025-02-07
dc.description.abstractBackground: Patients with functional neurological disorder presenting as stroke mimics or functional stroke mimics (FSMs) pose significant diagnostic challenges. In the acute phase, especially when patients are present within the therapeutic window for acute reperfusion treatments, a misdiagnosis of FSM can lead to unnecessary and costly interventions. Despite its clinical importance, the literature on the risk factors for FSM is limited. This study aims to compare the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with FSM to those with confirmed acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: This case-control study involved temporal matching between consecutive series of patients with FSM and controls with AIS from a single tertiary university hospital in southern Portugal. Results: A total of 188 patients were included: 64 cases (FSM) and 188 controls (AIS). The rate of stroke code activation and use of ambulance between was comparable between the two groups. The group of patients with FSM was younger (53.2 years vs. 69.5 years, p < 0.001) and had a higher proportion of females (52.4% vs. 47.6%, p = 0.001). There was no difference in terms of clinical severity at presentation. The proportion of specific signs, such as transcortical aphasia (3.1% vs. 20.9%, p = 0.014), gait abnormalities (15.6% vs. 33.9%, p = 0.004), and cranial nerve abnormalities (31.2% vs. 43.5%, p = 0.042), was lower in the FSM group compared to the AIS group. The proportion of patients on antithrombotic therapy (90.9% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.007) and antihypertensive drugs (78.5%, vs. 21.5%, p < 0.001) prior to the event was significantly higher in the AIS group. Likewise, the prevalence of cerebrovascular risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (14.3% vs. 85.7%, p = 0.005), arterial hypertension (23.8% vs. 76.2%, p = 0.001), and smoking (43.7% vs. 56.3%, p = 0.005) was lower in the FSM group compared to the AIS group. No statistically significant differences were observed in cholesterol levels or the prevalence of dyslipidemia between the two groups. Psychiatric comorbidities, including generalized anxiety disorder (71.4% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.05) and major depressive disorder (61.9% vs. 28.1%, p = 0.01), were more prevalent in the FSM group. Conclusions: Patients with FSM display different clinical and epidemiological profiles, with a higher likelihood of being younger, female, having prior psychiatric conditions, and lacking traditional cerebrovascular risk factors.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipUAIF 140/2023
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/brainsci15020163
dc.identifier.issn2076-3425
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/26894
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherMDPI
dc.relation.ispartofBrain Sciences
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectFunctional stroke mimics
dc.subjectStroke mimics
dc.subjectFunctional neurological disorders
dc.subjectPsychogenic stroke
dc.titleClinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with functional stroke mimics: a case–control study from Southern Portugaleng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue2
oaire.citation.startPage163
oaire.citation.titleBrain Sciences
oaire.citation.volume15
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameFigueira Domingos
person.familyNamePalma
person.familyNameMarreiros
person.familyNameNzwalo
person.givenNameMiguel
person.givenNamePedro
person.givenNameAna
person.givenNameHipólito
person.identifier337064
person.identifier.ciencia-id9A12-9450-7051
person.identifier.ciencia-id2C1F-E4F3-2C79
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-8755-959X
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-9861-4363
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-9410-4772
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-1502-3534
person.identifier.ridAAG-3931-2020
person.identifier.scopus-author-id56365905500
person.identifier.scopus-author-id57194785077
person.identifier.scopus-author-id36057285600
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationc46009ee-1c9c-453a-8f97-178e4a967453
relation.isAuthorOfPublication224e8cfc-3ff0-46bf-8b64-271e71be5cca
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationc0a8e5da-26ae-42a8-ab04-fa4df4356375
relation.isAuthorOfPublication287f7d4e-5ad8-4794-b526-c61d32c00446
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery224e8cfc-3ff0-46bf-8b64-271e71be5cca

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