Thames Valley Young Stroke Study (TV-YSS)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Thames Valley Young Stroke Study (TV-YSS): a prospective cohort study
IRAS ID
278950
Contact name
Peter M Rothwell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Clinical Trials and Research Governance
Duration of Study in the UK
22 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Up to 10% of strokes occur in patients aged under 55 years (“young stroke”) causing a large numbers of years lost to ill-health and premature death. More worryingly, the number of new cases of young stroke (“incidence”) appears to be increasing in recent decades in high-income countries.Reasons for this apparent increase are unclear.
One explanation is that the observed increase in new cases coincided with the changes in the burden of treatable vascular risk factors among young adults, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity.However, most of the previous studies were limited to basic clinical investigations and used measurement of risk factors based on medical history alone, which may not fully capture the burden of the risk factors over over the years preceding stroke. No study has attempted to determine the susceptibility and control of these risk factors.
TV-YSS aims to explore explanations for the change of stroke incidence over time in Oxfordshire in those aged under 55 years with a particularly focus on determining the contribution of treatable vascular risk factors. The study will also address the role of susceptibility and control of traditional treatable risk factors in younger stroke patients.The study proposes to recruit patients aged 18-54 years with acute ischaemic stroke from the participant identification centres (PICS) in the NHS Thames Valley region. Patients will have basic routine clinical investigations at PICS and additional non-invasive investigations as part of the study (not currently routine/one face-to-face-visit in Oxford) to identify the causes of their strokes, manifestations of early-stage atherosclerosis and brain structure changes. Detailed measurements of blood pressure and cholesterol level before the stroke from primary care records will also be collected. All patients will be followed-up annually via telephone/email/skype. Record-linkage to centrally held NHS health records will also be used for cross-referencing.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/1165
Date of REC Opinion
7 Dec 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion