Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stroke Volumes and Cerebrovascular Events: A 1-Year Follow-up.

Background And Objectives: Declines in stroke admission, IV thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), IVT, and mechanical thrombectomy over a 1-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020).

Zika Virus infection and Guillain-Barré syndrome in Northeastern Mexico: A case-control study.

Background: Beginning August 2017, we conducted a prospective case-control investigation in Monterrey, Mexico to assess the association between Zika virus (ZIKV) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).

Methods: For each of 50 GBS case-patients, we enrolled 2-3 afebrile controls (141 controls in total) matched by sex, age group, and presentation to same hospital within 7 days.

Results: PCR results for ZIKV in blood and/or urine were available on all subjects; serum ZIKV IgM antibody for 52% of case-patients and 80% of controls.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms in a patient with Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report.

Background: Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome is an uncommon constellation of radiological and clinical findings. Few reports describe co-occurring psychiatric manifestations. Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic disease with vascular, neurologic, and psychiatric involvement.

[Impacto en el desenlace funcional en pacientes con ictus: experiencia de una unidad de cuidados neurovasculares].

Background And Objective: Neurovascular care units (NCU) have a positive impact on the functional prognosis of stroke patients. The effectiveness of NCUs in Mexico has not been evaluated. Our objective was to determine the impact of an NCU in a third-level academic hospital in northeastern of Mexico.

Pituitary apoplexy presenting as diabetic ketoacidosis: A great simulator?

Pituitary apoplexy is a life-threatening illness due to acute infarction of the pituitary gland. The most common symptoms associated with pituitary apoplexy are headache, nausea, vomiting, visual impairment, hypopituitarism, and altered mental status. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a common acute complication of diabetes mellitus and is itself associated with similar symptoms.

Successful intravenous thrombolysis in a patient with antiphospholipid syndrome, acute ischemic stroke and severe thrombocytopenia.

Alteplase is the only approved drug for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, but it is offered to a minority of patients, not only because of the short therapeutic window but also because of the numerous contraindications associated with thrombolysis, such as thrombocytopenia. There is some controversy on the true risk associated with thrombolysis in patients with thrombocytopenia. Here we report the case of a young patient, who developed an in-hospital acute ischemic stroke involving a large territory of the right middle cerebral artery, who was successfully treated with intravenous alteplase, despite having thrombocytopenia and prolonged prothrombin times due to systemic lupus erythematosus and antiphospholipid syndrome.

Pure lupus podocytopathy first presenting as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-like syndrome.

Lupus podocytopathy (LP) is an uncommon proteinuric disorder in the spectrum of lupus nephropathy. Its histological features are similar to those described in minimal change disease (MCD) with or without mesangial immune deposits. Although infrequent, a close relationship between systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is well accepted.

Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis Presenting as Acute Polyneuropathy Mimicking Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a small-vessel vasculitis associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) which commonly affects the peripheral nervous system. A 38-year-old female with a history of asthma presented with a 2-week history of bilateral lower extremity paresthesias that progressed to symmetric ascending paralysis. Nerve conduction studies could not rule out Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and plasmapheresis was considered.