Point of Care Transcranial Color-Coded Duplex Ultrasound of the Middle Cerebral Artery.

In the assessment and management of many clinical problems, point-of-care (PoC) ultrasound is an emerging bedside tool. Transcranial color-coded duplex (TCCD) ultrasound can be valuable in multiple situations, including for patients who are unconscious or have an equivocal neurologic examination, as it helps rule in specific intracranial pathologies. Despite the known diagnostic value of transcranial ultrasound, its use in critical care medicine remains variable.

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale is comparable to the ICH score in predicting outcomes in spontaneous acute intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: Validating the National Institutes of Health NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) as a tool to assess deficit severity and prognosis in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage would harmonize the assessment of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, enable clinical use of a readily implementable and non-imaging dependent prognostic tool, and improve monitoring of ICH care quality in administrative datasets.

Methods: Among randomized trial ICH patients, the relation between NIHSS scores early after Emergency Department arrival and 3-month outcomes of dependency or death (modified Rankin Scale, mRS 3-6) and case fatality was examined. NIHSS predictive performance was compared to a current standard prognostic scale, the intracerebral hemorrhage score (ICH score).

Minocycline decreases blood-brain barrier permeability following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Objective: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH)-induced vasospasm is linked to increased inflammatory cell trafficking across a permeable blood-brain barrier (BBB). Elevations in serum levels of matrix metalloprotease 9 (MMP9), a BBB structural protein, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vasospasm onset. Minocycline is a potent inhibitor of MMP9.

Association Between Glycemic Gap and In-hospital Outcomes in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

Glycemic gap (GG), as determined by the difference between glucose and the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)-derived estimated average glucose (eAG), is associated with poor outcomes in various clinical settings. There is a paucity of data describing GG and outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Our main objectives were to evaluate the association of admission glycemic gap (aGG) with in-hospital mortality and with poor composite outcome and to compare aGG's predictive value to admission serum glucose.

Admission glycemic gap in the assessment of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most common type of hemorrhagic stroke. Glycemic gap, determined by the difference between glucose and the HbA1c-derived average glucose, predicts poor outcomes in various clinical settings. Our main objective was to evaluate association of some admission factors and outcomes in relation to admission glycemic gap (AGG) in patients with ICH.

CT perfusion core and ASPECT score prediction of outcomes in DEFUSE 3.

Background: The role of Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) for thrombectomy patient selection and prognostication in late time windows is unknown.

Aims: We compared baseline ASPECTS and core infarction determined by CT perfusion (CTP) as predictors of clinical outcome in the Endovascular Therapy Following Imaging Evaluation for Ischemic Stroke 3 (DEFUSE) 3 trial.

Methods: We included all DEFUSE 3 patients with baseline non-contrast CT and CTP imaging.

Botulinum toxin to improve vessel graft patency in cerebral revascularization surgery: report of 3 cases.

Surgical revascularization continues to play an important role in the management of complex intracranial aneurysms and ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Graft spasm is a common complication of bypass procedures and can result in ischemia or graft thrombosis. The authors here report on the first clinical use of botulinum toxin to prevent graft spasm following extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass.

Salvage of distal non-target coil embolization with stent placement and intravenous eptifibatide in a ruptured, unsecured, atypical aneurysm.

Introduction: Small aneurysms may be challenging to embolize. In cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) where treatment is delayed, physicians may have to balance the risks of certain required therapies (antiplatelet agents) with the risk of rerupture. We describe a case of a technically challenging anterior cerebral artery aneurysm requiring eptifibatide infusion prior to definitive aneurysm treatment.

Salvage of distal non-target coil embolization with stent placement and intravenous eptifibatide in a ruptured, unsecured, atypical aneurysm.

Introduction: Small aneurysms may be challenging to embolize. In cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) where treatment is delayed, physicians may have to balance the risks of certain required therapies (antiplatelet agents) with the risk of rerupture. We describe a case of a technically challenging anterior cerebral artery aneurysm requiring eptifibatide infusion prior to definitive aneurysm treatment.

Internal jugular, subclavian, and axillary deep venous thrombosis and the risk of pulmonary embolism.

The objective of this study was to investigate the risk of acute internal jugular, subclavian, and axillary deep venous thrombosis (upper torso DVT [UTDVT]) and pulmonary embolism (PE) and the role of anticoagulation in a cohort of hospitalized patients. A 2-year retrospective review of hospitalized patients who underwent upper torso vein duplex scanning was performed. Patient demographics, underlying comorbidities, indication for scanning, diagnostic tests, intensive care unit stay, length of stay, presence of a central line (current or within the last 2 weeks), malignancy (current or former), hypercoaguable condition, postoperative state, renal failure, mortality, and use of anticoagulation were recorded.