[Moyamoya in Aragon: epidemiology and self-perception of quality of life]

INTRODUCTION

Moyamoya angiopathy is a vasculopathy caused by stenosis/occlusion of one or both intracranial internal carotid arteries. Although more common in Eastern countries, its prevalence is increasing in the West. An angioresonance or angiography is essential for its diagnosis. There are two options for treatment: conservative (medical) treatment or surgical bypass techniques.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Nineteen patients were selected using International Classification of Diseases codes, and their demographic characteristics and health outcomes were studied. They were administered a scale for the screening of anxious-depressive syndrome (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - HADS) and another scale for self-perceived quality of life (SF-36). After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, eight of these patients were studied.

RESULTS

Nineteen patients were studied (52.63% male, 57.89% European) and the Aragonese prevalence was estimated at 1.37/100,000 inhabitants. The most frequent clinical presentation was ischaemic stroke (73.68%). The HADS detected two positive cases of anxiety and one case of depression. According to the SF-36, the worst self-rated aspects were vitality (median: 35/100) and general health (median: 42.5/100), while the best rated was physical function (mean: 93.57/100).

CONCLUSIONS

This is the Spanish series with the highest prevalence and the only one that addresses self-perceived health and screening of the anxious-depressive syndrome. Further research is needed to address this entity and determine its true prevalence in the West.

Analysis of the Factors Intervening in the Prehospital Time in a Stroke Code

INTRODUCTION

Strokes continue to be considered public health problems due to the great social and health impact they entail. They are the second cause of death in the world, with a high incidence and prevalence. They are time-dependent diseases, and more than 80% of cases could be avoidable with greater management of risk factors.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the factors that influence prehospital time in a stroke code. Assess the population's knowledge of stroke symptoms and teach them how to act when a case is suspected. Document the continued training of health professionals for the early identification of patients with a suspected stroke. Demonstrate the importance of calling EMS as the first contact to reduce delays in prehospital time in a stroke.

METHODOLOGY

A bibliographic review was carried out focusing on articles published between December 2014 and August 2023. The following databases were consulted: Pubmed (Medline), Dialnet, Google Scholar, Web of Science (WOS), Scielo, Scopus, and ScienceDirect.

RESULTS

After applying the article selection criteria and evaluating the quality of the methodology, a total of 18 articles were obtained. The results affirm that the importance of achieving a reduction in prehospital time is based mainly on knowledge of the symptoms and the use of new technologies.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence supports that the prehospital time of action in the stroke code is affected by numerous factors. These factors are determining factors in the time of action to achieve good effectiveness in the treatment of the pathology.

[Rapidly progressive intracranial large artery aterosclerosis, a rare stroke etiology]

INTRODUCTION

Intracranial atheromatosis is one of the most frequent causes of stroke. It is usually a slowly progressive process and normally associated with the sum of vascular risk factors.

CASE REPORT

In this case we present a rapidly progressive development of intracranial atheromatosis demonstrated by serial neuroimaging techniques and sample analysis in a 72-year-old female patient with high levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein, with no signs of vasculitis.

CONCLUSION

Rapidly progressive intracranial atheromatosis should be considered in adult patients over 50 years of age with recurrent stroke.

Benefits in quality of life following an obstructive sleep apnea screening and treatment program in patients with acute ischemic stroke

INTRODUCTION

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been proposed as a factor that worsens stroke prognosis. Our aim was to determine if an OSA intervention could improve quality of life (QOL, first objective) and modified Rankin score (mRS, second objective).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The intervention group of this quasi-experimental study included patients with acute ischemic stroke <72 hours who underwent polygraphy and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and hygienic-dietary measures if required. The control group followed routine clinical practice. The Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and mRS were applied at the sixth month after stroke in both groups.

RESULTS

Fifty-five vs. sixty-two patients were included in the intervention and control group respectively. In the intervention group, 64.71% of patients accepted the proposed CPAP (16 cases with a good adherence). An improvement in SF-36 items was detected in the intervention group: physical functioning (p = 0.008), role physical (p = 0.002), bodily pain (p = 0.008), general health (p <0.001), vitality (p = 0.001) and role emotional (p = 0.015). In a per-protocol analysis, all these improvements were verified in the group of patients treated with good CPAP adherence (p < 0.05 in all the same SF-36 items). The percentage of patients with physical component summatory = 50 was higher in the intervention group (p = 0.003). There were no differences in the median of mRS (p = 0.262).

CONCLUSIONS

Although more evidence is needed, a significant improvement in QOL was suggested after our OSA intervention, particularly in patients with good CPAP adherence.

Citicoline: pharmacological and clinical review, 2022 update

This review is based on the previous one published in 2016 (Secades JJ. Citicoline: pharmacological and clinical review, 2016 update. Rev Neurol 2016; 63 (Supl 3): S1-S73), incorporating 176 new references, having all the information available in the same document to facilitate the access to the information in one document. This review is focused on the main indications of the drug, as acute stroke and its sequelae, including the cognitive impairment, and traumatic brain injury and its sequelae. There are retrieved the most important experimental and clinical data in both indications.

Medical Marijuana for Epilepsy?

Treatment-refractory epilepsy remains an important clinical problem. There is considerable recent interest by the public and physicians in using medical marijuana or its derivatives to treat seizures. The endocannabinoid system has a role in neuronal balance and ictal control. There is clinical evidence of success in diminishing seizure frequencies with cannabis derivatives, but also documentation about exacerbating epilepsy or of no discernible effect. There are lay indications and anecdotal reports of success in attenuating the severity of epilepsy, but without solid investigational corroboration. Marijuana remains largely illegal, and may induce adverse consequences. Clinical applications are not approved, thus are restricted and only recommended in selected treatment unresponsive cases, with appropriate monitoring.

Trends in stroke admissions to a Tanzanian hospital over four decades: a retrospective audit

AIMS

The aim of this study was to record stroke admissions to a tertiary referral hospital in Tanzania over four decades.

METHODS

We audited the medical records held at a large teaching and tertiary referral hospital in northern Tanzania over four decades. We collected records for the years 1974-1976, 1984-1986, 1994-1995 and 2008. All patients admitted as inpatients with a primary diagnosis of stroke were included in the study. Data collected included age, sex, stroke subtype, predominant side of symptoms and survival to discharge.

RESULTS

The number of stroke admissions rose from just four in the three-year period 1974-1976 (mean 1.3 cases annually) to 153 cases annually in 2008. The mean age of those admitted rose steadily during this period, as did the proportion of females admitted.

CONCLUSIONS

The burden of stroke on health services in Tanzania appears to have increased rapidly. If this increase is to be slowed, then sustainable primary preventative measures to target known stroke risk factors will be required.

FORCED NORMALIZATION: Epilepsy and Psychosis Interaction

Forced normalization is the emergence of psychoses following the establishment of seizure control in an uncontrolled epilepsy patient. Two illustrative clinical vignettes are provided about people with epilepsy that was newly controlled and followed by emergence of a psychosis; symptoms appeared only after attaining ictal control. For recognition and differential diagnosis purposes, understanding forced normalization is important in clinical practice.

The effect of spectral filters on reading speed and accuracy following stroke

Purpose

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of optimal spectral filters on reading performance following stroke.

Methods

Seventeen stroke subjects, aged 43–85, were considered with an age-matched Control Group (n = 17). Subjects undertook the Wilkins Rate of Reading Test on three occasions: (i) using an optimally selected spectral filter; (ii) subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: Group 1 used an optimal filter, whereas Group 2 used a grey filter, for two-weeks. The grey filter had similar photopic reflectance to the optimal filters, intended as a surrogate for a placebo; (iii) the groups were crossed over with Group 1 using a grey filter and Group 2 given an optimal filter, for two weeks, before undertaking the task once more. An increase in reading speed of >5% was considered clinically relevant.

Results

Initial use of a spectral filter in the stroke cohort, increased reading speed by ∼8%, almost halving error scores, findings not replicated in controls. Prolonged use of an optimal spectral filter increased reading speed by >9% for stroke subjects; errors more than halved. When the same subjects switched to using a grey filter, reading speed reduced by ∼4%. A second group of stroke subjects used a grey filter first; reading speed decreased by ∼3% but increased by ∼4% with an optimal filter, with error scores almost halving.

Conclusions

The present study has shown that spectral filters can immediately improve reading speed and accuracy following stroke, whereas prolonged use does not increase these benefits significantly.

Psychomotor seizures, Penfield, Gibbs, Bailey and the development of anterior temporal lobectomy: a historical vignette

Psychomotor seizures, referred to as limbic or partial complex seizures, have had an interesting evolution in diagnosis and treatment. Hughlings Jackson was the first to clearly relate the clinical syndrome and likely etiology to lesions in the uncinate region of the medial temporal lobe. With the application of electroencephalography (EEG) to the study of human epilepsy as early as 1934 by Gibbs, Lennox, and Davis in Boston, electrical recordings have significantly advanced the study of epilepsy. In 1937, Gibbs and Lennox proposed the term "psychomotor epilepsy" to describe a characteristic EEG pattern of seizures accompanied by mental, emotional, motor, and autonomic phenomena. Concurrently, typical psychomotor auras and dreamy states were produced by electrical stimulation of medial temporal structures during epilepsy surgery by Penfield in Montreal. In 1937, Jasper joined Penfield, EEG was introduced and negative surgical explorations became less frequent. Nevertheless, Penfield preferred to operate only on space occupying lesions. A milestone in psychomotor seizure diagnosis was in the year 1946 when Gibbs, at the Illinois Neuropsychiatric Institute, Chicago, reported that the patient falling asleep during EEG was a major activator of the psychomotor discharges and electrographic ictal episodes becoming more prominently recorded. Working with Percival Bailey, Gibbs was proactive in applying EEG to define surgical excision of the focus in patients with intractable psychomotor seizures. By early 1950s, the Montreal group began to clearly delineate causative medial temporal lesions such as hippocampal sclerosis and tumors in the production of psychomotor seizures.