Stroke trends in 2015-2022 : declining admissions, rising reperfusion, uneven gains : stroke trends in Slovenia

Introduction. We assessed nationwide trends in administratively identified ischaemic stroke admissions, procedures, secondary prevention, and outcomes in Slovenia using linked national datasets in the absence of a dedicated stroke registry. Methods. We conducted a nationwide longitudinal analysis of adult hospital admissions captured in linked administrative databases between 2015 and 2022. We report crude index-admission rates, acute procedures (intravenous thrombolysis [IVT], mechanical thrombectomy [MT], thromboendarterectomy [TEA], carotid artery angioplasty with stenting [CAS]), discharge secondary-prevention prescriptions, and time-to-death analyses with a maximum follow-up of 5 years. Results. We included 16,839 unique index patients (median age 74 years