Incidence Trends and Risk of Recurrent Stroke of Cervical Artery Dissections in the United States Between 2005 and 2019.

Background and objectives: Cervical artery dissection (CeAD) is a common cause of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), especially in patients younger than 55 years, but data regarding trends and subsequent AIS risk after CeAD remain scarce. We aimed to determine national trends in CeAD admissions and examine post-CeAD risk of ischemic stroke.

Methods: We used the National Inpatient Sample (2005-2019), National Readmission Database (2015-2019), and State Inpatient Database for New York (2011-2017) and Florida (2011-2019). Adult patients with spontaneous CeAD were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. Survey-weighted annual CeAD cases were combined with US census data to estimate annual incidence. National estimates were verified with state-level data, which allows for the removal of duplicate admissions for a single patient through a unique patient identifier. Joinpoint regression was used to quantify the average annual percent change (AAPC) of CeAD incidence. AIS readmission risk after CeAD without concurrent AIS was assessed with death as a competing risk using Fine and Gray competing risk methodology.

Results: From 2005 to 2019, we identified 125,102 patients (46.09% female, mean age 51.4 years) with spontaneous CeAD. CeAD incidence increased from 10.7 cases per million population in 2005 to 45.6 cases per million population in 2019, revealing an AAPC of 10.21% (95% CI 9.67%-10.76%). This substantial increase in CeAD admissions was particularly high in the older, Black, and Hispanic populations. Statewide data corroborated this upward trend with an AAPC of 8.47% (95% CI 7.97%-9.48%). Among patients with CeAD without AIS, vertebral artery dissection was the sole major predictor of subsequent ischemic stroke risk within 90 days (adjusted subdistributed hazard ratio 1.77, 95% CI 1.18-2.64, p = 0.006). Interaction and subgroup analyses were performed and demonstrated similar results.

Discussion: There was an almost 5-fold increase in CeAD hospitalizations and an upward incidence trend from 2005 to 2019, particularly in racial minorities, which may be attributed to increased imaging and awareness of CeAD. Our study also revealed a small but significant risk of AIS in patients with vertebral artery dissection without concurrent ischemic stroke. These findings underscore the importance of studying acute treatment and secondary prevention strategies in patients with CeAD.