Clinical and radiological characteristics and 1-year self-reported outcomes from patients with encephalitis and coronavirus disease 2019.

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection is responsible for multisystemic disease and has high transmissibility. It culminated in a pandemic, challenging scientific knowledge and care capacity. Neurological symptoms are highly prevalent, and cases of encephalitis have been described, in both peri- and postinfectious periods.

Cognitive, behavioral, neuroimaging and inflammatory biomarkers after hospitalization for covid-19 in Brazil.

Post-COVID-19 Condition (PCC) refers to a multisystemic syndrome that persists for months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cognitive deficits, fatigue, depression, and anxiety are common manifestations of the condition, but the underlying mechanisms driving these long-lasting neuropsychiatric features are still unclear. We conducted a prospective multi-method investigation of post-hospitalization COVID-19 patients in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Electrical Stimulation Prevents Muscular Atrophy and the Decrease of Interleukin-6 in Paralyzed Muscles after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats.

 To analyze the muscle trophism and expression of interleukin-6 in the biceps brachii muscle of rats with incomplete cervical spinal cord injury treated with neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES).  Adult rats underwent C5-C7 spinal cord hemisection and a 5-week NMES protocol. Trophism of the biceps brachii was assessed using muscle weight/body weight ratio and histological analysis.

Changes in neuroinflammatory biomarkers correlate with disease severity and neuroimaging alterations in patients with COVID-19 neurological complications.

COVID-19 induces acute and persistent neurological symptoms in mild and severe cases. Proposed concomitant mechanisms include direct viral infection and strain, coagulopathy, hypoxia, and neuroinflammation. However, underlying molecular alterations associated with multiple neurological outcomes in both mild and severe cases are majorly unexplored.

Exploring the Chagas Disease-Stroke "Connection": Findings from a Large Multicenter Study.

Introduction: Strokes are traditionally attributed to risk factors like aging, hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Chagas disease has emerged as an important risk factor for stroke in Latin American. Our study aims at describing the largest cohort of patients with Chagas disease and ischemic stroke and determining variables associated with stroke recurrence and cardioembolic cause.

Trends in Intensive Care Admissions and Outcomes of Stroke Patients Over 10 Years in Brazil: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected stroke care worldwide. Data from low- and middle-income countries are limited.

Research Question: What was the impact of the pandemic in ICU admissions and outcomes of patients with stroke, in comparison with trends over the last 10 years?

Study Design And Methods: Retrospective cohort study including prospectively collected data from 165 ICUs in Brazil between 2011 and 2020.

Measurement Properties of Clinical Instruments for Assessing Manual Wheelchair Mobility in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury: Systematic Review.

Objective: To evaluate the measurement properties of clinical instruments used to assess manual wheelchair mobility in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Data Sources: This systematic review was conducted according to the Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments guidance and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. The search was conducted up to December 2021 on MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, Biblioteca Regional de Medicina, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health databases without time restriction.

Clinical and radiological features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 meningo-encephalitis.

Background And Purpose: This case illustrates for the first time the clinical and radiological evolution of SARS-CoV-2 meningo-encephalitis.

Methods: A case of a SARS-CoV-2 meningo-encephalitis is reported.

Results: A 65-year-old man with COVID-19 presenting with meningo-encephalitis without respiratory involvement is described.

Artificial Inteligence-Based Decision for the Prediction of Cardioembolism in Patients with Chagas Disease and Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Chagas disease (CD) and ischemic stroke (IS) have a close, but poorly understood, association. There is paucity of evidence on the ideal secondary prophylaxis and etiological determination, with few cardioembolic patients being identified.

Aims: This study aimed to describe a multicenter cohort of patients with concomitant CD and IS admitted in tertiary centers and to create a predictive model for cardioembolic embolism in CD and IS.

Stroke Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic: International Expert Panel Review.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has placed a tremendous strain on healthcare services. This study, prepared by a large international panel of stroke experts, assesses the rapidly growing research and personal experience with COVID-19 stroke and offers recommendations for stroke management in this challenging new setting: modifications needed for prehospital emergency rescue and hyperacute care; inpatient intensive or stroke units; posthospitalization rehabilitation; follow-up including at-risk family and community; and multispecialty departmental developments in the allied professions.

Summary: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 uses spike proteins binding to tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-2 receptors, most often through the respiratory system by virus inhalation and thence to other susceptible organ systems, leading to COVID-19.

Polypharmacy among older Brazilians: prevalence, factors associated, and sociodemographic disparities (ELSI-Brazil).

Background: Polypharmacy has become an increasingly public health issue as population age and novel drugs are developed. Yet, evidence on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) is still scarce.

Objective: This work aims to estimate the prevalence of polypharmacy among Brazilians aged 50 and over, and investigate associated factors.

Randomization of endovascular treatment with stent-retriever and/or thromboaspiration versus best medical therapy in acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion trial: Rationale and design.

Background: RESILIENT is a prospective, multicenter, randomized phase III trial to test the safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of mechanical thrombectomy as compared to medical treatment alone in patients treated under the less than ideal conditions typically found in the public healthcare system of a developing country.

Methods: Subjects must fulfill the following main inclusion criteria: symptom onset ≤8 h, age ≥18 years, baseline NIHSS ≥8, evidence of intracranial ICA or proximal MCA (M1 segment) occlusion, ASPECTS ≥6 on CT or >5 on DWI-MRI and be either ineligible for or unresponsive to intravenous alteplase. The primary end-point is the distribution of disability levels (on the modified Rankin Scale, mRS) at 90 days under the intention-to-treat principle.

Latin American Consensus Statement for the Use of Contrast-Enhanced Transcranial Ultrasound as a Diagnostic Test for Detection of Right-to-Left Shunt.

Background: The role of patent foramen ovale is a field of debate and current publications have increasing controversies about the patients' management in young undetermined stroke. Work up with echocardiography and transcranial Doppler (TCD) can aid the decision with better anatomical and functional characterization of right-to-left shunt (RLS). Medical and interventional strategy may benefit from this information.

Epidemiology of concurrent Chagas disease and ischemic stroke in a population attending a multicenter quaternary rehabilitation network in Brazil.

Background And Purpose: Chagas disease and ischemic stroke (IS) have a close but poorly understood correlation. In endemic settings, continued transmission over time has resulted in increasing prevalence of both asymptomatic infection and cardiomyopathy with increasing age. Latin America has made substantial progress towards Chagas disease control.

Postural Muscle Unit Plasticity in Stroke Survivors: Altered Distribution of Gastrocnemius' Action Potentials.

Neuromuscular adaptations are well-reported in stroke survivors. The death of motor neurons and the reinnervation of residual muscle fibers by surviving motor neurons, for example, seem to explain the increased density of muscle units after stroke. It is, however, unknown whether reinnervation takes place locally or extensively within the muscle.

Overground gait training promotes functional recovery and cortical neuroplasticity in an incomplete spinal cord injury model.

Aim: Evidence suggests that task-specific gait training improves locomotor impairments in people with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI); however, plastic changes in brain areas remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the possible effects of a task-specific overground gait training on locomotor recovery and neuroplasticity markers in the cortex, cerebellum, and lumbar spinal cord in an experimental model of incomplete-SCI.

Main Methods: Using a blind, basic experimental design, 24 adult Wistar rats underwent a surgical procedure and were allocated into sham, non-trained SCI (SCI), and trained SCI (Tr-SCI) groups.

The Brazilian Society of Cerebrovascular Diseases - history.

The present article provides the historical background of the Sociedade Brasileira de Doenças Cerebrovasculares (Brazilian Society for Cerebrovascular Diseases), including details on its function, structure, challenges and main achievements.

Cerebral infarct topography of atrial fibrillation and Chagas disease.

Background: Chagas disease (CD) and ischemic stroke (IS) have a significant but poorly understood correlation. There is paucity of evidence regarding secondary prophylaxis of IS and etiological causes.

Objectives: To compare arterial stroke topography and the respective morbidities and mortality in patients with CD of undetermined and cardioembolic etiologies and with cardioembolic IS (atrial fibrillation [AF]).

Machado de Assis' Original Sin.

Machado de Assis (1839-1908) suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, probably with origin in the non-dominant hemisphere. The evidence for this is provided by the detailed reports of the characteristics of his seizures by his contemporaries and by his correspondence with other writers. He was treated with bromides and homeopathy.

An international cluster-randomized quality improvement trial to increase the adherence to evidence-based therapies for acute ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack patients: Rationale and design of the BRIDGE STROKE Trial.

Background: Translating evidence into clinical practice in the management of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and transient ischemic attack (TIA) is challenging especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the effect of a multifaceted quality improvement intervention on adherence to evidence-based therapies for AIS and TIA patients care.

Design: We designed a pragmatic, 2-arm cluster-randomized trial involving 36 clusters and 1624 patients from Brazil, Argentina, and Peru.

mTOR Signaling Pathway and Protein Synthesis: From Training to Aging and Muscle Autophagy.

In muscle tissue there is a balance between the processes muscle synthesis and degradation. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway plays a critical role in regulating protein synthesis in order to maintain muscular protein turnover and trophism. Studies have shown that both down- and upregulation mechanisms are involved in this process in a manner dependent on stimulus and cellular conditions.