Updates in Neoadjuvant Therapy for Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer refers to systemic therapy administered prior to definitive surgery. It was originally developed for patients with locally advanced breast cancer (stage III) with the intention of downstaging unresectable tumors, and decreasing the extent of surgical intervention, including axillary lymph node dissection. For patients with inflammatory breast cancer, neoadjuvant therapy is considered a standard of care.

Large vessel stroke as initial presentation of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

A 67-year-old right-handed woman presented with dysarthria, left upper extremity weakness and right-sided neglect of 3 hours duration. Imaging of the brain revealed acute right middle cerebral artery stroke; however, tissue plasminogen activator could not be administered due to severe thrombocytopenia. A peripheral smear revealed schistocytes and the patient was treated empirically for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) with therapeutic plasma exchange.

Thrombolysis for Ischemic Stroke during Pregnancy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background And Purpose: Our knowledge of the safety of thrombolytic therapy in pregnancy stems from individual case reports and series. We report the successful use of intravenous alteplase (tissue plasminogen activator; tPA) thrombolysis in a pregnant woman with acute cardioembolic stroke presumed to be paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale.

Methods: A literature review found several case reports and case series of pregnant patients treated with either intravenous or intra-arterial tPA for acute ischemic stroke.