Introduction: Complement C5 antibodies reduce brain injury after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Patients And Methods: In this randomized, controlled, open-label, phase 2a clinical trial with blinded-outcome assessment, we included adult aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients admitted to a tertiary referral center ⩽11 h after ictus. Patients were randomized (1:1) to eculizumab plus care as usual or to care as usual.
Neuroinflammation and microthrombosis may be underlying mechanisms of brain injury after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), but they have not been studied in relation to each other. In postmortem brain tissue, we investigated neuroinflammation by studying the microglial and astrocyte response in the frontal cortex of 11 aSAH and 10 control patients. In a second study, we investigated the correlation between microthrombosis and microglia by studying the microglial surface area around vessels with and without microthrombosis in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of 8 other aSAH patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: High systolic blood pressure (SBP) after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) has been associated with an increased risk of rebleeding. It remains unclear if an SBP lowering strategy before aneurysm treatment decreases this risk without increasing the risk of a delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). Therefore, we compared the rates of in-hospital rebleeding and DCI among patients with aSAH admitted in two tertiary care centers with different SBP management strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In some acute care trials, immediate informed consent is not possible, but deferred consent is often considered problematic. We investigated the opinions of patients, proxies, and physicians about deferred consent in an acute stroke trial to gain insight into its acceptability and effects.
Methods: Paper-based surveys were sent to patients who were randomly assigned in the Ultra-early Tranexamic Acid After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (ULTRA) trial between 2015 and 2018 in two tertiary referral centers and to physicians of centers who agreed or declined to participate.
Background: The inflammatory response after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) has been associated with early brain injury, delayed cerebral ischaemia, poor functional outcome, and case fatality. In experimental SAH studies, complement C5 antibodies administered shortly after SAH reduced brain injury with approximately 40%. Complement component C5 may be a new therapeutic target to reduce brain injury and hereby improve the outcome after aSAH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients have an inflammatory response in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We determined CSF cell counts, erythrocyte/leukocyte ratio, and glucose- and protein concentrations in patients ≤20 days after aSAH without bacterial meningitis. Such knowledge may help to interpret CSF parameters in patients with an external drain if nosocomial bacterial meningitis or ventriculitis is suspected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Knowledge of risk factors for rebleeding after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage can help tailoring ultra-early aneurysm treatment. Previous studies have identified aneurysm size and various patient-related risk factors for early (≤24 h) rebleeding, but it remains unknown if aneurysm configuration is also a risk factor. We investigated whether irregular shape, aspect- and bottleneck ratio of the aneurysm are independent risk factors for early rebleeding after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims And Objectives: This study aims to provide insight into key factors from a clinician's perspective that influence uninterrupted early skin-to-skin contact after vaginal and caesarean delivery of healthy full-term infants.
Background: Early skin-to-skin contact of healthy full-term infants ideally begins immediately after birth and continues for the first hour or the first breastfeed as recommended by the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. However, adoption of early skin-to-skin contact is low in many settings and the barriers that hinder its universal use are not well understood.