[Cerebral arteriovenous malformations - overview].

Unlabelled: Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are uncommon but can cause intracerebral hemorrhage with grave disability or death. AVMs can even cause focal neurological symptoms, seizures and headache. The treatment of AVMs is complex.

[Cerebral ischemia/infarction - diagnosis and treatment].

Four hundred individuals suffer from ischemic stroke every year in Iceland, more than one daily. Cerebral ischemia is an emergency. Around two million brain cells die every minute after an occlusion of a cerebral artery.

[Cerebral ischemia/infarction - epidemiology, causes and symptoms].

Eight of ten strokes are due to cerebral ischemia, two from cerebal hemorrhage. Stroke is the most common cause of disability, the second commonest cause of dementia and the fourth commonest cause of death in the developed world. The incidence of stroke is 150-200/100.

[Spinal cord infarction].

Spinal cord infarction is a rare disease. The disorder is well known as a result of aorta atherosclerosis or complication of aorta surgery. The disorder can mimic other diseases and be difficult to diagnose.

[Spontaneus intracerebral haemhorrhage--review].

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel within the brain parenchyma ruptures without a near related trauma. It is the second most common form of stroke, accounting for approximately 10% to 15% of new strokes. The 30 day mortality is very high (25-50%).

[Cerebral sinus thrombosis - an uncommon but important differential diagnosis to headache, stroke and seizures. Cases and overview].

Thrombosis of the cerebral veins and sinuses is an unusual but important cause of increased intracranial pressure and stroke, especially in the young and middle aged. Pregnant women, especially during the puerperium, and individuals with thrombophilia are a special risk group. What makes the diagnosis difficult is the vast range of symptoms including: headache, nausea, vomiting, blurry vision, reduction of consciousness, aphasia and motor and sensory disturbances.

[Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage--review].

Spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage is a bleeding in to the subarachnoid space without trauma. Aneurysms are the underlying cause in 80% of the cases. Among other causes are: arteriovenous malformations, anticoagulation, vasculitis or brain tumor.

[Cervical artery dissection - review].

In recent years carotid and vertebral artery dissections have been diagnosed more frequently, probably because new imaging techniques are more reliable and they are certainly less invasive. The cause of cervical artery dissections is largely unexplained but probably involves a combination of genetic and environmental factors such as trauma or infection. Most authors recommend intravenous heparin or low molecular weight heparin followed by oral warfarin to maintain INR between 2-3 for 3-6 months.

Risk variants for atrial fibrillation on chromosome 4q25 associate with ischemic stroke.

Objective: To find sequence variants that associate with the risk for ischemic stroke (IS), we performed a genome-wide association study.

Methods: We genotyped 1,661 Icelandic IS patients and 10,815 control subjects using the Infinium HumanHap300 chip (Illumina, San Diego, CA). A total of 310,881 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for association with IS, and the most significant signals were replicated in two large European IS sample sets (2,224 cases/2,583 control subjects).