Call to Action: SARS-CoV-2 and CerebrovAscular DisordErs (CASCADE).

Background And Purpose: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2), now named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), may change the risk of stroke through an enhanced systemic inflammatory response, hypercoagulable state, and endothelial damage in the cerebrovascular system. Moreover, due to the current pandemic, some countries have prioritized health resources towards COVID-19 management, making it more challenging to appropriately care for other potentially disabling and fatal diseases such as stroke. The aim of this study is to identify and describe changes in stroke epidemiological trends before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critique on the Use of Early Short-Term Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Following Minor Acute Cerebral Ischemic Events.

Background: Two recent cerebrovascular studies, Clopidogrel (Clo) in High-risk patients with Acute Nondisabling Cerebrovascular Events (CHANCE) and Platelet-Oriented Inhibition in New TIA and minor ischemic stroke (POINT), have purportedly demonstrated the superiority of early dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), using aspirin (ASA) plus Clo, in comparison to ASA alone following the occurrence of acute minor cerebral infarction or transient ischemic attack. However, limitations to these trials exist that may not have been adequately explored and presented in the literature, and which may impact the overall efficacy and benefit of DAPT in these situations. Herein we provide a detailed and extensive critique of these 2 trials and of a combined analysis, with particular attention to study data and analyses pertaining to hemorrhagic complications.

Meningovascular syphilis with fatal vertebrobasilar occlusion.

We report the case of a young patient with meningovascular syphilis who suffered fatal vertebrobasilar occlusion despite thrombolytic treatment and endovascular interventions. A 35-year-old man without any known medical history presented with an acute ischemic stroke and was initially treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. He was then transferred to the stroke center, where he underwent endovascular recanalization of his occluded vertebrobasilar system.

The intron 4c allele of the NOS3 gene is associated with ischemic stroke in African Americans.

Background: Ischemic stroke is the most common cause of disability in North America and in addition to the generally accepted risk factors, there is increasing evidence for the potential pathophysiological role of genes. One of these genes, the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (NOS3) has been reported as a genetic risk factor for ischemic stroke. To independently confirm and extend the results of these previous reports, we investigated this gene as a risk factor for stroke in an ethnically diverse study population.