Functional recoveries of patients with branch atheromatous disease after rehabilitation: Comparison with other types of cerebral infarction and importance of stratification by clinical categories.

BACKGROUND: Functional recoveries after rehabilitation of patients with branch atheromatous disease (BAD) have not been well investigated, however, clinical category of cerebral infarction including BAD itself could be a potential predictive factor for functional outcome. OBJECTIVE: To describe characteristics of functional recoveries of patients with BAD through comparison with other types of cerebral infarction. METHODS: We retrospectively compared outcomes of patients with BAD (N = 222), cardioembolic cerebral infarction (CE: N = 177) and atherothrombotic cerebral infarction (AT: N = 219) by using functional independence measure (FIM) and FIM effectiveness (the proportion of potential for improvement achieved). RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that FIM on discharge was comparable among three types of cerebral infarction, but that FIM effectiveness in patients with BAD was significantly higher than those with CE or AT. Stratified analysis revealed higher FIM effectiveness in patients with BAD compared to patients with CE or AT, if they were male, younger (≤72 years) or had supratentorial brain lesions. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that location of the brain lesion (supratentorial vs infratentorial) and gender (male vs female) were significantly associated with FIM on discharge, and that cognitive function on admission as well as gender were significantly associated with FIM effectiveness in patients with BAD, but not in patients with CE or AT. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes after rehabilitation of patients with BAD may be characterized by better functional improvement, especially if patients are male, relatively younger or with supratentorial lesions. The impact and the type of factors related to functional recoveries of patients with BAD may be different from other types of stroke. The present study suggested that clinical category of stroke should be taken into consideration in prediction of outcomes and planning of rehabilitation management.

Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome Caused by Nivolumab in a Patient with Squamous Cell Lung Cancer.

Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) is a representative paraneoplastic neurological syndrome. Recently, nivolumab, an anti-programmed cell death 1 inhibitor, has been approved for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Careful attention should be paid to immune-related adverse events (irAEs), including neurotoxicity. We herein report a 73-year-old woman with LEMS that occurred during nivolumab treatment for pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma. After the 20th week of nivolumab, she experienced various neurological symptoms such as ptosis, lower limb weakness, and photophobia. Findings from a nerve conduction study and a positive anti-P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel antibody made a diagnosis of LEMS. Pyridostigmine and 3,4-diaminopyridine temporarily improved her symptoms. This was the first case of LEMS as a neurological irAE. LEMS should be considered as a possible neurological irAE.

Effectiveness of Intracranial Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty or Stenting for Atherosclerotic Vertebrobasilar Artery Occlusion in the Acute Phase of Ischemic Stroke.

OBJECTIVE: Although short-term clinical outcomes after basilar artery stent placement have been reported previously, effectiveness of intracranial stenting for vertebrobasilar artery occlusion in the acute phase of ischemic stroke is unclear. METHODS: We clinically investigated 8 patients with intracranial percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or stenting as our protocol for symptomatic atherosclerotic vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (age range, 54-80 years; mean age, 69 ± 11 years; 6 men and 2 women) who were admitted to our hospital between August 2013 and December 2015. RESULTS: Two patients underwent PTA of the vertebrobasilar artery 2-5 months before stent placement. The other 6 patients underwent intracranial stenting just after PTA. Within the first 30 days after vertebrobasilar artery stent placement, 2 ischemic stroke complications affected patients. Ischemic complications were significantly associated with prestent lesion lumen greater than 0.5 mm. The modified Rankin Scale score and clinical outcome were significantly associated with complications. Clinical outcomes correlate with ischemic complications and vertebrobasilar anatomy. CONCLUSIONS: Stent angioplasty may be a reasonably good treatment option for patients with technically favorable lesions, especially in vertebrobasilar atherosclerotic occlusion with medically or PTA only refractory symptoms. Despite a significant complication rate, most of our patients experienced good to excellent clinical outcomes and were free of vertebrobasilar ischemia at late midterm follow-up.