Poor Outcomes With Mechanical Ventilation in Ischemic Stroke

Background: Acute stroke may result in significant short-term mortality as well as significant disability among survivors. It may be difficult to predict long-term functional recovery even after severe stroke and, for that reason, early life support decisions may not be strongly evidence based. Objective: To assess outcomes of acute stroke patients requiring mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Design: Prospective, multicenter, longitudinal cohort study. Participants/Methods: 364 patients from 33 ICUs in 26 French hospitals from 2017 to 2019 were studied. All patients suffered from acute strokes of all types and required mechanical ventilation within 1 week of admission. Results: The overall mortality rate was 52.2% to 42.0% in the ICU, and the majority of survivors suffered significant physical and psychological disability at 1 year. Overall, 66.5% of patients had a poor functional outcome. After adjustment for non-neurologic organ failure, age ≥70 years, elevated Charlson comorbid more...