Outcomes of Mechanical Thrombectomy in Patients With Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion With Mild to Moderate Symptoms.

Background And Objectives: The benefit of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with basilar artery occlusion (BAO) and a baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score <10 is unclear because this subpopulation has been substantially excluded from large clinical trials. The aim of our study was to determine whether MT ± IV thrombolysis (IVT) improves functional outcomes compared with IVT alone in patients with BAO and a NIHSS score <10.

Methods: We emulated a hypothetical trial including adult patients with BAO, a baseline NIHSS score <10, and prestroke modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores 0-2, comparing MT (±IVT) with IVT alone.

Precision Workforce Management for Radiographers: Monitoring and Managing Competences with an Automatic Tool.

Optimizing work shifts in healthcare is crucial for maintaining high standards of service delivery and fostering professional development. This study delves into the emerging field of skill-oriented work shift optimization, focusing specifically on radiographers within the healthcare sector. Through the development of Skills Retention Monitoring (SRH), this research aims to enhance skill monitoring, workload management, and organizational performance.

Effect of an educational intervention to increase stroke awareness among Italian high school students: A prospective study in Tuscany.

Introduction: Stroke in young people shares traditional modifiable risk factors with older groups, and greatly affects quality of life. However, evidence on the effectiveness of educational interventions in young populations, aiming at spreading stroke knowledge and enhancing prevention, is still scarce. We evaluated baseline knowledge of stroke and possible improvements after an educational intervention among Italian high school students, also considering differences related to sex and type of school.

Stroke with large vessel occlusion in the posterior circulation: IV thrombolysis plus thrombectomy versus IV thrombolysis alone.

Efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for stroke with posterior circulation large vessel occlusion (LVO) is still under debate. We aimed to compare the outcomes of stroke patients with posterior circulation LVO treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) (< 4.5 h after symptom onset) plus MT < 6 h after symptom onset with those treated with IVT alone (< 4.

Carotid artery stenting during endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke with tandem occlusion: the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Purpose: The management of tandem extracranial internal carotid artery and intracranial large vessel occlusion during endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) has been under-investigated. We sought to investigate outcomes of AIS patients with tandem occlusion (TO) treated with carotid artery stenting (CAS) compared to those not treated with CAS (no-CAS) during EVT.

Methods: We performed a cohort study using data from AIS patients enrolled in the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Detecting the vulnerable carotid plaque: the Carotid Artery Multimodality imaging Prognostic study design.

Background: Carotid artery disease is highly prevalent and a main cause of ischemic stroke and vascular dementia. There is a paucity of information on predictors of serious vascular events. Besides percentage diameter stenosis, international guidelines also recommend the evaluation of qualitative characteristics of carotid artery disease as a guide to treatment, but with no agreement on which qualitative features to assess.

Brain MRI in Monogenic Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases: A Practical Handbook.

Monogenic cerebral small vessel diseases are a topic of growing interest, as several genes responsible have been recently described, and new sequencing techniques such as Next-generation sequencing are available. Brain imaging is significant for the detection of these diseases. Since it is often performed at an initial stage, an MRI is a key to selecting patients for genetic testing and for interpreting nextgeneration sequencing reports.

Arterial intracranial thrombosis as the first manifestation of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT): a case report.

Objective: We describe a severe case of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) after the first dose of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine leading to massive ischemic stroke.

Methods: A 42-year-old woman developed acute left hemiparesis (NIHSS 12) 9 days after the first vaccine dose.

Results: The blood tests revealed low platelets (70 10/μL) and severe increment of D-dimer (70,745 ng/mL FEU).

Longitudinal changes in MoCA performances in patients with mild cognitive impairment and small vessel disease. Results from the VMCI-Tuscany Study.

Objectives: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a cognitive screening test largely employed in vascular cognitive impairment, but there are no data about MoCA longitudinal changes in patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). We aimed to describe changes in MoCA performance in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and SVD during a 2-year follow-up, and to evaluate their association with transition to major neurocognitive disorder (NCD).

Materials And Methods: Within the prospective observational VMCI-Tuscany Study, patients with MCI and SVD underwent a comprehensive clinical, neuropsychological, and functional evaluation at baseline, and after 1 and 2 years.

Risk Factors for Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation on Non-Vitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants for Stroke Prevention.

[Figure: see text].

Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Intracranial Carotid Occlusion with Patent Intracranial Arteries : The Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke.

Purpose: Intracranial carotid artery occlusion represents an underinvestigated cause of acute ischemic stroke as well as an indication for mechanical thrombectomy. We investigated baseline and procedural characteristics, outcomes and predictors of outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke secondary to intracranial carotid artery occlusion.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke was performed.

Direct thrombectomy for stroke in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for thrombolysis.

Background: Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT)-ineligible patients undergoing direct thrombectomy tended to have poorer functional outcome as compared with IVT-eligible patients undergoing bridging therapy. We aimed to assess radiological and functional outcomes in large vessel occlusion-related stroke patients receiving direct thrombectomy in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for IVT vs relative exclusion criteria for IVT and vs non-exclusion criteria for IVT.

Methods: A cohort study on prospectively collected data from 2282 patients enrolled in the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke cohort for treatment with direct thrombectomy (n = 486, absolute exclusion criteria for IVT alone; n = 384, absolute in combination with relative exclusion criteria for IVT; n = 777, relative exclusion criteria for IVT alone; n = 635, non-exclusion criteria for IVT).

Evolution, Predictors, and Neurocognitive Effects of Silent Cerebral Embolism During Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics, predictors, evolution, and neurocognitive effects of silent cerebral ischemic lesions (SCILs).

Background: Most patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) develop SCILs detectable on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The natural history and clinical relevance of SCILs are not well established.

Thrombolysis in elderly stroke patients in Italy (TESPI) trial and updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Since its approval, the use of alteplase had been limited to patients aged ≤80 years.

Aims: TESPI trial had been designed to evaluate whether alteplase treatment within 3 h in patients with acute ischemic stroke aged >80 years resulted in favorable benefit/risk ratio compared with standard care. The meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was updated to put findings in the context of all available evidence.

Small vessel disease and biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction after ischaemic stroke.

Introduction: Although pathogenesis of small vessel disease is poorly understood, increasing evidence suggests that endothelial dysfunction may have a relevant role in development and progression of small vessel disease. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the associations between imaging signs of small vessel disease and blood biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction at two different time points in a population of ischaemic stroke patients.

Patients And Methods: In stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis, we analysed blood levels of von Willebrand factor, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor.

Objective assessment of blinking and facial expressions in Parkinson's disease using a vertical electro-oculogram and facial surface electromyography.

Objective: Hypomimia is a common and early symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), which reduces the ability of PD patients to manifest emotions. Currently, it is visually evaluated by the neurologist during neurological examinations for PD diagnosis, as described in task 3.2 of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS).

Hemorrhagic Transformation in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation: Time to Initiation of Oral Anticoagulant Therapy and Outcomes.

Background In patients with acute ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation, early anticoagulation prevents ischemic recurrence but with the risk of hemorrhagic transformation ( HT ). The aims of this study were to evaluate in consecutive patients with acute stroke and atrial fibrillation (1) the incidence of early HT, (2) the time to initiation of anticoagulation in patients with HT , (3) the association of HT with ischemic recurrences, and (4) the association of HT with clinical outcome at 90 days. Methods and Results HT was diagnosed by a second brain computed tomographic scan performed 24 to 72 hours after stroke onset.