Diagnostic accuracy and radiological validation of intracerebral hemorrhage diagnosis in the Swedish Stroke Register (Riksstroke).

background and purposeNational quality registries for stroke care operate under the assumption that the included patients are correctly diagnosed. We aimed to validate the clinical diagnosis of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in Riksstroke (RS) by evaluating radiological data from a large, unselected ICH population.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective, multicenter study including all ICH patients registered in RS between 2016 and 2020 residing in Skåne County in Sweden (1.41 million inhabitants). Radiological data from first imaging were evaluated for the presence of spontaneous ICH. Other types of bleeds were registered if a spontaneous ICH was not identified on imaging. The radiological evaluation was independently performed by one radiology fellow and one senior neuroradiologist.

resultsBetween 2016 and 2020, 1784 ICH cases were registered in RS, of which 1655 (92.8%) had a radiological diagnosis consistent with spontaneous ICH. In the 129 (7.2%) remaining cases, the radiological diagnosis was instead traumatic bleed (n = 80), subarachnoid hemorrhage (n = 15), brain tumor bleed (n = 14), ischemic lesion with hemorrhagic transformation (n = 14), ischemic lesion (n = 3), or no bleed at all (n = 3). There was a higher degree of incorrect coding in the older age groups.

conclusionAt radiological evaluation, 92.8% of ICH diagnoses in RS were consistent with spontaneous ICH, yielding a high rate of agreement that strengthens the validity of the diagnostic accuracy in the register, justifying the use of high coverage quality register data for epidemiological purposes. The most common coding error was traumatic bleeds that were classified as spontaneous ICH.