Early Brain Volume Changes After Stroke: Subgroup Analysis From the AXIS-2 Trial

Linking Cerebrovascular Dysfunction to Age-Related Hearing Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease—Are Systemic Approaches for Diagnosis and Therapy Required?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with neurovascular dysfunction, cognitive decline, and the accumulation of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) in the brain and tau-related lesions in neurons termed neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Aβ deposits and NFT formation are the central pathological hallmarks in AD brains, and the majority of AD cases have been shown to exhibit a complex combination of systemic comorbidities. While AD is the foremost common cause of dementia in the elderly, age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is the most predominant sensory deficit in the elderly. During aging, chronic inflammation and resulting endothelial dysfunction have been described and might be key contributors to AD; we discuss an intriguing possible link between inner ear strial microvascular pathology and blood–brain barrier pathology and present ARHL as a potentially modifiable and treatable risk factor for AD development. We present compelling evidence that ARHL might well be seen as an important risk factor in AD development: progressive hearing impairment, leading to social isolation, and its comorbidities, such as frailty, falls, and late-onset depression, link ARHL with cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia, rendering it tempting to speculate that ARHL might be a potential common molecular and pathological trigger for AD. Additionally, one could speculate that amyloid-beta might damage the blood–labyrinth barrier as it does to the blood–brain barrier, leading to ARHL pathology. Finally, there are options for the treatment of ARHL by targeted neurotrophic factor supplementation to the cochlea to improve cognitive outcomes; they can also prevent AD development and AD-related comorbidity in the future.

Systemic immune inflammatory index is an independent predictor for the requirement of decompressive craniectomy in large artery occlusion acute ischemic stroke patients after mechanical thrombectomy

Background and purpose

Following mechanical thrombectomy (MT), patients with large artery occlusive acute ischemic stroke (LAO-AIS) often have cerebral herniation due to its complications, resulting in poor prognosis. Decompressive craniectomy (DC) can markedly improve patient prognosis. This study aimed to verify the predictive value of clinical parameters such as the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) for DC in patients with LAO-AIS after MT.

Methods

Clinical data of a total of 173 patients with LAO-AIS treated with MT between January 2020 and January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients receiving DC were grouped into an experimental group or a control group (no DC). The patients were randomly divided into the training set (n = 126, 75%) and validation set (n = 43, 25%). Multivariate logistic regression was used to construct a nomogram predictive model.

Results

The SII value in the experimental group (median: 2851.1×109/L) was significantly higher than that in the control group (median: 1898.6 × 109/L) (P = 0.019). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses showed that the best cutoff value of the SII was 2505.7 × 109/L with a sensitivity of 55%, a specificity of 75.8%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.649. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that the SII was an independent predictor for performing DC in patients with LAO-AIS after MT (OR = 3.579, 95% CI = 1.360-9.422, P = 0.01). The AUC was 0.728 in the training set and 0.583 in the validation set. The average error of the calibration curve was 0.032 in the training set and 0.023 in the validation set. The average error was relatively small and consistent in the training set and validation set. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.804 suggesting good accuracy.

Conclusions

The SII at admission is an independent predictor for the requirement of DC in patients with LAO-AIS after MT. The SII-based nomogram helps doctors make decisions on whether DC is needed timely and rationally, and thereby may improve the prognosis of these patients.