[Cerebral arteriovenous malformations - overview].

Unlabelled: Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are uncommon but can cause intracerebral hemorrhage with grave disability or death. AVMs can even cause focal neurological symptoms, seizures and headache. The treatment of AVMs is complex.

[Cerebral ischemia/infarction - diagnosis and treatment].

Four hundred individuals suffer from ischemic stroke every year in Iceland, more than one daily. Cerebral ischemia is an emergency. Around two million brain cells die every minute after an occlusion of a cerebral artery.

[Cerebral ischemia/infarction - epidemiology, causes and symptoms].

Eight of ten strokes are due to cerebral ischemia, two from cerebal hemorrhage. Stroke is the most common cause of disability, the second commonest cause of dementia and the fourth commonest cause of death in the developed world. The incidence of stroke is 150-200/100.

[Spinal cord infarction].

Spinal cord infarction is a rare disease. The disorder is well known as a result of aorta atherosclerosis or complication of aorta surgery. The disorder can mimic other diseases and be difficult to diagnose.

[Spontaneus intracerebral haemhorrhage--review].

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel within the brain parenchyma ruptures without a near related trauma. It is the second most common form of stroke, accounting for approximately 10% to 15% of new strokes. The 30 day mortality is very high (25-50%).

[Cerebral sinus thrombosis - an uncommon but important differential diagnosis to headache, stroke and seizures. Cases and overview].

Thrombosis of the cerebral veins and sinuses is an unusual but important cause of increased intracranial pressure and stroke, especially in the young and middle aged. Pregnant women, especially during the puerperium, and individuals with thrombophilia are a special risk group. What makes the diagnosis difficult is the vast range of symptoms including: headache, nausea, vomiting, blurry vision, reduction of consciousness, aphasia and motor and sensory disturbances.

Genetic risk factors for ischaemic stroke and its subtypes (the METASTROKE collaboration): a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies.

Background: Various genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been done in ischaemic stroke, identifying a few loci associated with the disease, but sample sizes have been 3500 cases or less. We established the METASTROKE collaboration with the aim of validating associations from previous GWAS and identifying novel genetic associations through meta-analysis of GWAS datasets for ischaemic stroke and its subtypes.

Methods: We meta-analysed data from 15 ischaemic stroke cohorts with a total of 12 389 individuals with ischaemic stroke and 62 004 controls, all of European ancestry.

[Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage--review].

Spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage is a bleeding in to the subarachnoid space without trauma. Aneurysms are the underlying cause in 80% of the cases. Among other causes are: arteriovenous malformations, anticoagulation, vasculitis or brain tumor.

[Cervical artery dissection - review].

In recent years carotid and vertebral artery dissections have been diagnosed more frequently, probably because new imaging techniques are more reliable and they are certainly less invasive. The cause of cervical artery dissections is largely unexplained but probably involves a combination of genetic and environmental factors such as trauma or infection. Most authors recommend intravenous heparin or low molecular weight heparin followed by oral warfarin to maintain INR between 2-3 for 3-6 months.

Genome-wide association study identifies a sequence variant within the DAB2IP gene conferring susceptibility to abdominal aortic aneurysm.

We performed a genome-wide association study on 1,292 individuals with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and 30,503 controls from Iceland and The Netherlands, with a follow-up of top markers in up to 3,267 individuals with AAAs and 7,451 controls. The A allele of rs7025486 on 9q33 was found to associate with AAA, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.21 and P = 4.

A sequence variant in ZFHX3 on 16q22 associates with atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke.

We expanded our genome-wide association study on atrial fibrillation (AF) in Iceland, which previously identified risk variants on 4q25, and tested the most significant associations in samples from Iceland, Norway and the United States. A variant in the ZFHX3 gene on chromosome 16q22, rs7193343-T, associated significantly with AF (odds ratio OR = 1.21, P = 1.

Risk variants for atrial fibrillation on chromosome 4q25 associate with ischemic stroke.

Objective: To find sequence variants that associate with the risk for ischemic stroke (IS), we performed a genome-wide association study.

Methods: We genotyped 1,661 Icelandic IS patients and 10,815 control subjects using the Infinium HumanHap300 chip (Illumina, San Diego, CA). A total of 310,881 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for association with IS, and the most significant signals were replicated in two large European IS sample sets (2,224 cases/2,583 control subjects).

The same sequence variant on 9p21 associates with myocardial infarction, abdominal aortic aneurysm and intracranial aneurysm.

Recently, two common sequence variants on 9p21, tagged by rs10757278-G and rs10811661-T, were reported to be associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), respectively. We proceeded to further investigate the contributions of these variants to arterial diseases and T2D. Here we report that rs10757278-G is associated with, in addition to CAD, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA; odds ratio (OR) = 1.

A variant of the gene encoding leukotriene A4 hydrolase confers ethnicity-specific risk of myocardial infarction.

Variants of the gene ALOX5AP (also known as FLAP) encoding arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase activating protein are known to be associated with risk of myocardial infarction. Here we show that a haplotype (HapK) spanning the LTA4H gene encoding leukotriene A4 hydrolase, a protein in the same biochemical pathway as ALOX5AP, confers modest risk of myocardial infarction in an Icelandic cohort. Measurements of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) production suggest that this risk is mediated through upregulation of the leukotriene pathway.

The gene encoding 5-lipoxygenase activating protein confers risk of myocardial infarction and stroke.

We mapped a gene predisposing to myocardial infarction to a locus on chromosome 13q12-13. A four-marker single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotype in this locus spanning the gene ALOX5AP encoding 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (FLAP) is associated with a two times greater risk of myocardial infarction in Iceland. This haplotype also confers almost two times greater risk of stroke.

The gene encoding phosphodiesterase 4D confers risk of ischemic stroke.

We previously mapped susceptibility to stroke to chromosome 5q12. Here we finely mapped this locus and tested it for association with stroke. We found the strongest association in the gene encoding phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D), especially for carotid and cardiogenic stroke, the forms of stroke related to atherosclerosis.

[Case fatality after acute stroke at the Reykjavik Hospital in 1996-1997.].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe case-fatality after acute stroke at the Reykjavik Hospital. A study describing the outcome of stroke patients in an Icelandic population has not been published before.

Material And Methods: A prospective hospital-based stroke registry has been conducted at the Reykjavik Hospital since January 1996.

[Migraine-related stroke. Two case-reports.].

Migraine is the cause of 3-25% of strokes in young adults. Each year we can expect 9-10 cases of migraine-related stroke in Iceland. The most common symptom is hemianopia but other common symptoms include hemiparesis, hemianesthesia, dysphasia and various brain stem symptoms.

[Etiology and treatment of cerebral ischemia at the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Reykjavik City Hospital.].

Objectives: This is the first Icelandic study in which the etiology of cerebral ischemia is examined. The goal of the study was to examine how the etiology of cerebral infarcts and transient ischemic attacks was determined at the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Reykjavik City Hospital and how the patients were treated.

Material And Methods: The study was retrospective and included 102 patients with cerebral infarcts and transient ischemic attacks that were admitted to the Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Reykjavik City Hospital in 1994.

The penetration of metrizamide into the brain after routine lumbar myelography as shown by cerebral computed tomography and its effect on auditory brainstem transmission time.

Metrizamide is a widely used contrast medium with some well known adverse reactions. In a preliminary study, CT scans and brain stem evoked potentials (BAEP) were done before and 18 hours following lumbar myelography on 12 patients. A statistically significant prolongation of the BAEP was observed.

Prognostic significance of cerebral computed tomography results in supratentorial infarction.

In 69 patients with supratentorial cerebral infarction findings at computed tomography (CT) were related to clinical state on admission and course of recovery. In patients with initial disability of slight to moderate degree CT did not provide prognostically useful information; in patients with severe symptoms at onset location of lesion to the internal capsule or the right parietal lobe and the presence of the mass effect, as single factors or in combination, were ominous CT indicators in terms of functional recovery.