Superficial siderosis: a potential diagnostic marker of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in Alzheimer disease.

Background And Purpose: Superficial siderosis of the central nervous system results from chronic bleeding in the superficial layers of the cortex and spinal cord. In cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), there is amyloid deposition in meningeal and meningo-cortical arteries and capillaries, predisposing them to rupture. CAA is frequently associated with Alzheimer disease (AD).

Argatroban anticoagulation in patients with acute ischemic stroke (ARGIS-1): a randomized, placebo-controlled safety study.

Background And Purpose: Direct thrombin inhibitors, including argatroban, represent an anticoagulant class distinct from heparins. We investigated the safety of 2 levels of argatroban anticoagulation in acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: This multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study included 171 patients with acute (< or =12 hours from onset) stroke and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores of 5 to 22.

Mechanical thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke with endovascular photoacoustic recanalization.

Background And Purpose: We present the results of endovascular photoacoustic recanalization (EPAR) treatment for acute ischemic stroke from the Safety and Performance Study at 6 centers in Europe and North America. The objectives of mechanical thrombolysis are rapid vessel recanalization and minimal use of chemical thrombolysis.

Methods: This study was a prospective, nonrandomized study.

Cervical arterial dissection: time for a therapeutic trial?

Background And Purpose: Cervical arterial dissection is a major cause of stroke in young adults, yet despite standard treatment with anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs, its management remains uncertain. The goal of this study was to assess the natural history of the disorder and to decide on the feasibility of a therapeutic trial.

Methods: Collaborating members of the Canadian Stroke Consortium prospectively enrolled consecutively referred patients with angiographically proven acute vertebral or carotid arterial dissection.

Pseudomigraine with lymphocytic pleocytosis: a calcium channelopathy? Clinical description of 10 cases and genetic analysis of the familial hemiplegic migraine gene CACNA1A.

Objective: To report the clinical findings of 10 patients diagnosed with pseudomigraine with lymphocytic pleocytosis and the results of mutational analysis of the CACNA1A gene in 8 of these patients.

Background: Pseudomigraine with lymphocytic pleocytosis, also referred to as headache with neurologic deficits and cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytosis (HaNDL), is characterized by episodic transient neurologic dysfunction associated with moderate to severe headache and cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytic pleocytosis. Episodes are recurrent and the condition is self-limiting.