Can NIRS be a surrogate indicator of elective shunt in carotid endarterectomy? A single-center observational retrospective study says no.

Background: Neuromonitoring during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) under general anesthesia is desirable and may be useful for preventing brain ischemia, but the selection of the most appropriate method remains controversial.

Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) compared to multimodality intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) in indicating elective shunts and predicting postoperative neurological status.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study including 86 consecutive patients with CEA under general anesthesia.

Observational study of intravenous lacosamide in patients with convulsive versus non-convulsive status epilepticus.

Background And Objectives: Status epilepticus (SE) is an important emergency situation associated with high morbidity and mortality. The goal of pharmacological therapy-rapid seizure termination-is only achieved in just over half of patients with first-line anti-epileptic drug (AED) therapy and many patients require second and higher lines of AEDs to achieve seizure termination; therefore, there is a clear need for more effective treatment options. Lacosamide is a relatively new AED and the intravenous formulation has shown promise for treatment of SE.