Post-stroke dysphagia: Clinical characteristics and evolution in a single-primary stroke center.

Background: Dysphagia is a common manifestation after stroke and seems to play a major role in clinical and functional outcomes.

Objectives: To identify clinical predictors of higher degrees of dysphagia, as well as assess its burden in our hospital, in order to understand how to improve the approach to this symptom.

Methods: We included 311 patients admitted in an acute stroke unit in a year-long period.

Meniscus Sign in Patients with Anterior Circulation Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke does not Predict Outcome.

Purpose: The angiographic appearance of the occlusion site was suggested to influence outcomes of stroke patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) who undergo endovascular treatment (EVT). We aimed to study the impact of the meniscus sign (MS) on outcomes of stroke patients with anterior circulation LVO.

Methods: Based on two prospective registries of acute ischemic stroke, we selected patients with carotid‑T, M1 or M2 occlusion who underwent EVT.

Acute Ischemic Stroke in Pregnancy.

Stroke is an uncommon but serious potential complication of pregnancy. The management of acute ischemic stroke in pregnant women remains a complex challenge that extends beyond the limits of clinical trial evidence. Patient 1 was a 29-year-old woman 27 weeks into her first pregnancy, without remarkable past medical history or vascular risk factors.

Safety and Efficacy of Dabigatran Etexilate vs Dose-Adjusted Warfarin in Patients With Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) are at risk of recurrent venous thrombotic events (VTEs). Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants have not been evaluated in randomized controlled trials in CVT.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of dabigatran etexilate with those of dose-adjusted warfarin in preventing recurrent VTEs in patients who have experienced a CVT.

NCCT and CTA-based imaging protocol for endovascular treatment selection in late presenting or wake-up strokes.

Introduction: Recently, the benefit of selecting patients for endovascular treatment (EVT) beyond the 6-hour time window using a tissue-based approach was demonstrated in two randomized trials. The optimal imaging protocol for selecting patients is under debate, and it is still unknown if a simpler and faster protocol may adequately select patients with wake-up stroke (WUS) and late-presenting stroke (LPS) for EVT.

Objective: To compare outcomes of patients submitted to EVT presenting within 6 hours of symptom onset or 6-24 hours after last seen well, selected using non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) and CT angiography (CTA).

Mechanical Thrombectomy in Acute Ischemic Stroke: Initial Single-Center Experience and Comparison with Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Until recently, intravenous thrombolysis was the only reperfusion therapy with proven efficacy in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, this treatment option has low recanalization rates in large-vessel occlusions. The search for additional treatments continued until 5 randomized trials (MR CLEAN, ESCAPE, EXTEND-IA, SWIFT PRIME, and REVASCAT) revealed the superiority of mechanical thrombectomy for anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion.

Myocardium expression of connexin 43, SERCA2a, and myosin heavy chain isoforms are preserved in nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia rat model.

Background: Previous morphological studies had produced controversial results with regard to heart development in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), whereas a few publications investigated cardiac function and myocardial maturation. Myocardium maturation is associated with age-dependent increasing of gene expression of gap junction protein connexin 43 (Cx43), adenosine triphosphatase of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SERCA2a), as well as switching of myosin heavy chains (MHCs) from beta to alpha isoforms. Our aim was to evaluate myocardium maturity in nitrofen-induced CDH rat model.

Ghrelin expression in human and rat fetal lungs and the effect of ghrelin administration in nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Ghrelin is a strong physiologic growth hormone secretagogue that exhibits endocrine and non-endocrine actions. In this study, ghrelin expression in humans and rats was evaluated throughout development of normal and hypoplastic lungs associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Additionally, the effect of antenatal treatment with ghrelin in the nitrofen-induced CDH rat model was tested.