Evaluation of Post-thrombolytic Events to Determine Appropriate ICU Monitoring Duration for Patients with Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Standard treatment for eligible patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is thrombolysis with tissue plasminogen activators alteplase or tenecteplase. Current guidelines recommend monitoring patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) for 24 h after thrombolytic therapy. However, recent studies have questioned the need for prolonged ICU monitoring.

Transfusion-Related Acute Brain Injury: A Case Report on Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome.

Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) manifests with a thunderclap headache and reversible vascular abnormalities. Red blood cell transfusions have not been well identified as a risk factor for RCVS. We report a rare case of acute brain injury resulting from RCVS after a packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion.

Central Nervous System Fungal Infection-Related Stroke: A Descriptive Study of Mold and Yeast-Associated Ischemic Stroke.

Objective: Central nervous system (CNS) ischemic events caused by fungal infections are rare, and clinical characteristics of these ischemic events are largely unknown. The objective of this manuscript is to highlight characteristics of fungal-related strokes and describe possible mechanistic differences between CNS mold and yeast infection-related strokes.

Methods: We report a single-center retrospective case series of all adult patients who presented with concurrent CNS fungal infection and stroke between 2010 and 2018.

Pneumothorax as a Complication of Apnea Testing for Brain Death.

Background: Pneumothorax is an under-recognized complication of apnea testing performed as part of the neurological determination of death. It may result in hemodynamic instability or even cardiac arrest, compromising ability to declare brain death (BD) and viability of organs for transplantation. We report three cases of pneumothorax with apnea testing (PAT) and review the available literature of this phenomenon.

Updates on management of anoxic brain injury after cardiac arrest.

Brain injury is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among cardiac arrest survivors. Management of these patients in the acute phase is challenging as is predicting their outcomes especially with the application of hypothermia. Therapeutic hypothermia has been proven beneficial but target temperature, timing, and duration that produce the best outcome are unclear and the subject of ongoing research.