Psychological interventions for improvement of symptoms of post-stroke depression - study protocol of the depression-intervention study for optimization of reconvalesence after stroke (DISCOVER).

Introduction: Besides functional outcomes, mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are significant measures in chronic diseases, such as stroke. Post-stroke depression (PSD) is an important complication affecting up to one in three stroke survivors. So far, specific programs to screen, detect and treat these patients are lacking but might be a crucial component in stroke aftercare.

Recommendations for the organization of the teleconsultation service in a telestroke network.

Telestroke networks aim to improve acute stroke care within their catchment area. Through a teleconsultation service, the network centers provide support to network hospitals that lack continuous neurological expertise for acute stroke management decisions. Although the importance of telemedical treatment in stroke care is steadily increasing, so far no standards exist for the organization of the teleconsultation service in networks.

Inflammation biomarkers in acute ischemic stroke according to different etiologies.

Background: High throughput technologies provide new opportunities to further investigate the pathophysiology of ischemic strokes. The present cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate potential associations between the etiologic subtypes of ischemic stroke and blood-based proteins.

Methods: We investigated the associations between ischemic stroke subtypes and a panel of circulating inflammation biomarkers in 364 patients included in the Stroke Cohort Augsburg (SCHANA).

Influence of educational status and migration background on the long-term health-related quality of life after stroke.

Background And Purpose: Acute stroke treatment and secondary prevention have tremendously improved functional outcomes after stroke. However, this does not always imply a likewise improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Knowledge on factors influencing HRQoL after stroke is still scarce, especially regarding social aspects like the level of education and the presence of migration background.

Associations between pre-stroke physical activity and physical quality of life three months after stroke in patients with mild disability.

Background: Much is known about the association between physical activity and the occurrence of stroke. However, the evidence about the correlation between pre-stroke physical activity and post-stroke quality of life remains inconsistent. Thus, there is a high public health relevance to the topic.

Factors Associated With Early and Late Post-stroke Fatigue in Patients With Mild Impairment. Results From the Stroke Cohort Study Augsburg.

Background: Post-stroke fatigue is a common symptom after stroke. However, studies on the factors associated with early and late fatigue are scarce. The objective of this study was to identify variables associated with early and late fatigue.

Association of post-stroke-depression and health-related quality of life three months after the stroke event. Results from the Stroke Cohort Augsburg (SCHANA) study.

Approximately one-third of patients with stroke show depressive symptoms. The so-called post-stroke depression (PSD) has a negative influence on mortality as well as physical and mental conditions. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between PSD and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with stroke.

Changes of Health-Related Quality of Life Within the 1st Year After Stroke-Results From a Prospective Stroke Cohort Study.

As prospective data on long-term patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to assess Health related Quality of Life (HRQoL) after stroke are still scarce, this study examined the long-term course of PROMs and investigated influential factors such as recanalization therapies. A total of 945 (mean age 69 years; 56% male) stroke patients were enrolled with a personal interview and chart review performed at index event. One hundred forty (15%) patients received thrombolysis (IVT) and 53 (5%) patients received endovascular therapy (ET) or both treatments as bridging therapy (BT).

Simulation-based training improves process times in acute stroke care (STREAM).

Background: The objective of the STREAM Trial was to evaluate the effect of simulation training on process times in acute stroke care.

Methods: The multicenter prospective interventional STREAM Trial was conducted between 10/2017 and 04/2019 at seven tertiary care neurocenters in Germany with a pre- and post-interventional observation phase. We recorded patient characteristics, acute stroke care process times, stroke team composition and simulation experience for consecutive direct-to-center patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and/or endovascular therapy (EVT).

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on stroke teleconsultations in Germany in the first half of 2020.

Background And Purpose: The effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on telemedical care have not been described on a national level. Thus, we investigated the medical stroke treatment situation before, during, and after the first lockdown in Germany.

Methods: In this nationwide, multicenter study, data from 14 telemedical networks including 31 network centers and 155 spoke hospitals covering large parts of Germany were analyzed regarding patients' characteristics, stroke type/severity, and acute stroke treatment.

Long-Term Outcomes in Patients with Stroke after in-Hospital Treatment-Study Protocol of the Prospective Stroke Cohort Augsburg (SCHANA Study).

Introduction: In Germany, stroke is the third leading cause of death, with more than 60,000 fatalities out of approximately 260,000 cases (first-ever and recurrent strokes) each year. So far, there are only a few long-term studies investigating determinants of the natural course of the disease, especially in the era of mechanical thrombectomy.

Materials And Methods: The prospective single-center stroke cohort Augsburg (SCHANA) study will include about 1000 patients treated for stroke in the University Hospital of Augsburg.

Simulation-Based Training of the Rapid Evaluation and Management of Acute Stroke (STREAM)-A Prospective Single-Arm Multicenter Trial.

Acute stroke care delivered by interdisciplinary teams is time-sensitive. Simulation-based team training is a promising tool to improve team performance in medical operations. It has the potential to improve process times, team communication, patient safety, and staff satisfaction.

Differential patterns of local gene regulation in crush lesions of the rat optic and sciatic nerve: relevance to posttraumatic regeneration.

Axon regrowth after nerve injury can occur in the peripheral but fails in the central nervous system. Cellular reactions at the lesion site affect axonal regrowth. We compared gene regulation in optic nerve (ON) and sciatic nerve (SN) crush lesions in adult rats by cDNA array analysis, quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, focusing on the primary lesion site rather than the proximal or distal nerve stump.

p57kip2 is dynamically regulated in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and interferes with oligodendroglial maturation.

The mechanisms preventing efficient remyelination in the adult mammalian central nervous system after demyelinating inflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, are largely unknown. Partial remyelination occurs in early disease stages, but repair capacity diminishes over time and with disease progression. We describe a potent candidate for the negative regulation of oligodendroglial differentiation that may underlie failure to remyelinate.

Increased thalamic neurodegeneration following ischaemic cortical stroke in osteopontin-deficient mice.

Inflammation aggravates brain injury caused by stroke and neurodegeneration. Osteopontin (OPN) is a cytokine-like glycoprotein that binds to various integrins and CD44 variants. OPN exerts proinflammatory effects in autoimmune conditions but also has cytoprotective properties and participates in wound healing.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation prevents diabetes in NOD mice but does not contribute to significant islet cell regeneration once disease is established.

The treatment of type I diabetes by islet cell transplantation, while promising, remains restricted due to the incomplete efficacy and toxicity associated with current immunosuppression, and by limited organ availability. Given reports suggesting bone marrow derived stem cell plasticity, we sought to determine whether such cells could give rise to pancreatic islet cells in vivo. In the context of autoimmune diabetes, we transplanted unfractionated bone marrow from beta-gal trangenic donor mice into NOD mice prior to, at, and two weeks beyond the onset of disease.

Osteopontin, a macrophage-derived matricellular glycoprotein, inhibits axon outgrowth.

Transected axons can regenerate beyond the site of injury in the peripheral but not in the central nervous system (CNS). Increasing evidence implicates inflammatory processes as modulators of axon regeneration after injury. In this study, we addressed a possible role of the matricellular glycoprotein osteopontin (OPN) using crush lesions of the optic and sciatic nerve as models of central and peripheral axotomy, respectively.

Polyclonal long-term repopulating stem cell clones in a primate model.

Hematopoietic bone marrow stem cells generate differentiated blood cells and, when transplanted, may contribute to other organs, such as the brain, heart, and liver. An understanding of in vivo clonal behavior of stem cells will have important implications for cellular and gene therapy. For the first time, we have directly demonstrated the derivation of circulating peripheral blood cells from individual stem cell clones.