COVID-19 and Decompressive Hemicraniectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Young patients with malignant cerebral edema have been shown to benefit from early decompressive hemicraniectomy. The impact of concomitant infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and how this should weigh in on the decision for surgery is unclear. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all COVID-19-positive patients admitted to the neuroscience intensive care unit for malignant edema monitoring. Patients with >50% of middle cerebral artery involvement on computed tomography imaging were considered at risk for malignant edema. RESULTS: Seven patients were admitted for monitoring of whom 4 died. Cause of death was related to COVID-19 complications, and these were either seen both very early and several days into the intensive care unit course after the typical window of malignant cerebral swelling. Three cases underwent surgery, and 1 patient died postoperatively from cardiac failure. A good outcome was attained in the other 2 cases. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19-positive patients with large hemispheric stroke can have a good outcome with decompressive hemicraniectomy. A positive test for COVID-19 should not be used in isolation to exclude patients from a potentially lifesaving procedure.

Effect of A Randomized trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformation on Interventional Treatment Rates for Unruptured Arteriovenous Malformations.

BACKGROUND: In 2013, investigators from A Randomized Trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (AVM; ARUBA) reported that interventions to obliterate unruptured AVMs caused more morbidity and mortality than medical management. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether interventions for unruptured AVM decreased after publication of ARUBA results. METHODS: We used the Nationwide Readmissions Database to assess trends in interventional AVM management in patients ≥18 years of age from 2010 through 2015. Unruptured brain AVMs were identified using International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code 747.81 and excluding any patient with a diagnosis of intracranial hemorrhage. Our primary outcome was interventional AVM treatment, identified using ICD-9-CM procedure codes for surgical resection, endovascular therapy, and stereotactic radiosurgery. Join-point regression was used to assess trends in the incidence of interventional AVM management among adults from 2010 through 2015. RESULTS: There was no significant U.S. population level change in unruptured brain AVM intervention rates before versus after ARUBA (p = 0.59), with the incidence of AVM intervention ranging from 8.0 to 9.2 per 10 million U.S. residents before the trial publication to 7.7-8.3 per 10 million afterwards. CONCLUSIONS: In a nationally representative sample, we found no change in rates of interventional unruptured AVM management after publication of the ARUBA trial results.

Functional Coagulation Differences Between Lobar and Deep Intracerebral Hemorrhage Detected by Rotational Thromboelastometry: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is known to have better clinical outcomes and preliminary evidence of less hematoma expansion compared to deep ICH. No functional coagulation differences between lobar and deep ICH have been identified using traditional plasma-based coagulation tests. We investigated for coagulation differences between lobar and deep ICH using whole-blood coagulation testing (Rotational Thromboelastometry: [ROTEM]). METHODS: Clinical, radiographic, and laboratory data were prospectively collected for primary ICH patients enrolled in a single-center ICH study. Patients with preceding anticoagulant use or admission coagulopathy on traditional laboratory testing were excluded. Lobar and deep ICH patients receiving admission ROTEM were analyzed. Linear regression was used to assess the association of ICH location with coagulation test results after adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: There were 12 lobar and 19 deep ICH patients meeting inclusion criteria. Lobar ICH patients were significantly older and predominantly female. Lobar ICH had faster intrinsic pathway coagulation times (139.8 vs 203.2 s; 95% CI - 179.91 to - 45.96; p = 0.002) on ROTEM testing compared to deep ICH after adjusting for age, sex, and hematoma volume. This revealed functional coagulation differences, specifically quicker clot formation in lobar compared to deep ICH. No differences were noted using traditional coagulation testing (prothrombin time/partial thromboplastin time/platelet count). CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot data may suggest that there are functional coagulation differences between lobar and deep ICH identified using ROTEM. Whole-blood coagulation testing may be useful in assessing coagulopathy in ICH patients and in determining reversal treatment paradigms, though further work is needed.

The Ictal-Interictal Continuum: To Treat or Not to Treat (and How)?

Continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) monitoring is becoming increasingly used in neurologic and non-neurologic intensive care units (ICUs). Non-convulsive seizures (NCSz) and periodic discharges (PDs) are commonly seen in critically ill patients. Some of these PD patterns, also known as the ictal-interictal continuum (IIC), are associated with an increased risk of seizures and poor outcome. However, we do not fully understand the significance of these periodic patterns and the decision of how aggressively to treat remains controversial. IIC patterns are associated with pathophysiologic changes that closely resemble those of seizures. Here we make the argument that, rather than feature description on EEG, associated changes in brain physiology should dictate management choices.

Treatment of Seizures and Postanoxic Status Epilepticus.

Seizures are a common occurrence following cardiac arrest and may occur both during targeted temperature management and after rewarming. Postanoxic seizures may be nonconvulsive and very difficult to diagnose without electroencephalography (EEG) or associated with prominent myoclonus. Importantly, to date no randomized controlled trials are available to guide the management of seizures in patients with cardiac arrest. Seizure prophylaxis is not recommended, and when seizures are diagnosed they are typically treated the same as seizures in other patients with acute brain injury. Electroencephalographic abnormalities that are highly epileptiform, but do not fulfill classic seizure criteria, also known as the ictal-interictal continuum, occur frequently and there is no consensus on how to treat these. Several EEG patterns have been associated with poor outcome in retrospective studies. Increasing evidence has emerged that patients may have a favorable outcome, even with status myoclonus and malignant EEG patterns, if aggressive management is pursued.

Neuroinfectious Emergencies.

OBJECTIVE: This article describes nervous system infections and complications that lead to neurologic emergencies. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: New research on the use of dexamethasone in viral and fungal infections is reviewed. The use of advanced MRI techniques to evaluate nervous system infections is discussed. ESSENTIAL POINTS: Neurologic infections become emergencies when they lead to a rapid decline in a patient's function. Emergent complications may result from neurologic infections that, if not identified promptly, can lead to permanent deficits or death. These complications include cerebral edema and herniation, spinal cord compression, hydrocephalus, vasculopathy resulting in ischemic stroke, venous thrombosis, intracerebral hemorrhage, status epilepticus, and neuromuscular respiratory weakness.

Neurovascular ultrasound in acute stroke: emergency department applications.

Acute stroke is one of the most common neurologic emergencies encountered by emergency clinicians. While point of care ultrasound has been a core part of emergency clinicians' training and practice for many years, the use of specialized ultrasound modalities in the care of acute ischemic stroke has not been as widely adopted. This review discusses the use of ultrasound in acute stroke, with a focus on applications of interest to emergency clinicians. Transcranial Doppler, carotid Doppler, microembolic signal detection, transthoracic echocardiography, evaluation for collateral circulation and optic nerve sheath diameter measurement are discussed in a case-based format, with a focus on practical applications for emergency clinicians.

Derivation, External Validation and Clinical Implications of a deep learning approach for intracranial pressure estimation using non-cranial waveform measurements.

Importance: Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) is associated with adverse neurological outcomes, but needs invasive monitoring. Objective: Development and validation of an AI approach for detecting increased ICP (aICP) using only non-invasive extracranial physiological waveform data. Design: Retrospective diagnostic study of AI-assisted detection of increased ICP. We developed an AI model using exclusively extracranial waveforms, externally validated it and assessed associations with clinical outcomes. Setting: MIMIC-III Waveform Database (2000-2013), a database derived from patients admitted to an ICU in an academic Boston hospital, was used for development of the aICP model, and to report association with neurologic outcomes. Data from Mount Sinai Hospital (2020-2022) in New York City was used for external validation. Participants: Patients were included if they were older than 18 years, and were monitored with electrocardiograms, arterial blood pressure, respiratory impedance plethysmography and pulse oximetry. Patients who additionally had intracranial pressure monitoring were used for development (N=157) and external validation (N=56). Patients without intracranial monitors were used for association with outcomes (N=1694). Exposures: Extracranial waveforms including electrocardiogram, arterial blood pressure, plethysmography and SpO2. Main Outcomes and Measures: Intracranial pressure > 15 mmHg. Measures were Area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy at threshold of 0.5. We calculated odds ratios and p-values for phenotype association. Results: The AUROC was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.90-0.91) on testing and 0.80 (95% CI, 0.80-0.80) on external validation. aICP had accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 73.8% (95% CI, 72.0%-75.6%), 99.5% (95% CI 99.3%-99.6%), and 76.9% (95% CI, 74.0-79.8%) on external validation. A ten-percentile increment was associated with stroke (OR=2.12; 95% CI, 1.27-3.13), brain malignancy (OR=1.68; 95% CI, 1.09-2.60), subdural hemorrhage (OR=1.66; 95% CI, 1.07-2.57), intracerebral hemorrhage (OR=1.18; 95% CI, 1.07-1.32), and procedures like percutaneous brain biopsy (OR=1.58; 95% CI, 1.15-2.18) and craniotomy (OR = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.12-1.84; P < 0.05 for all). Conclusions and Relevance: aICP provides accurate, non-invasive estimation of increased ICP, and is associated with neurological outcomes and neurosurgical procedures in patients without intracranial monitoring.

HSV Encephalomyelitis in an Immunocompetent Patient With Prior Splenectomy.

A 44-year-old male with history of asplenia, provoked PE, and hyperlipidemia presented with ascending paralysis, bowel and bladder incontinence and altered mental status, and progressively developed acute hypoxic respiratory failure. Initial workup including CT head, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain, and lumbar puncture which was concerning for herpes simplex virus (HSV) meningoencephalitis; out of caution he was started on multiple antibiotics consequently resulting in the development of Clostridium difficile (C.diff). He also received two doses of IVIG. He was transferred to our institution and after interval re-imaging via MRI brain and spinal surveys and repeat lumbar punctures, he was found to have a high CSF HSV titer and positive GAD 65 antibody, the latter likely a false positive due to IVIG administration. IVIG was not continued from the outside hospital due to the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and the risks of plasmapheresis outweighed the benefits. The patient gradually improved after a prolonged course of acyclovir and was downgraded out of the Neuroscience ICU (NSICU), however decompensated due to rectal bleeding, and subsequently went into cardiac arrest. Though this patient underwent a splenectomy, his relative immunocompetency towards non-encapsulated organisms should have been preserved. It has not been clearly described in the literature how and why HSV encephalomyelitis takes a fulminant course in immunocompetent patients, including our asplenic patient. Furthermore, definitive treatment and management of this condition remains unclear. Severity of HSV encephalomyelitis has not been clearly described in the literature, particularly in immunocompetent patients (such as this asplenic patient).

Transcranioplasty Ultrasonography Through a Sonolucent Prosthesis: A Review of Feasibility, Safety, and Benefits.

Data on the effectiveness of transcranioplasty ultrasonography through sonolucent cranioplasty (SC) are new and heterogeneous. We performed the first systematic literature review on SC. Ovid Embase, Ovid Medline, and Web of Science Core Collection were systematically searched and published full text articles detailing new use of SC for the purpose of neuroimaging were critically appraised and extracted. Of 16 eligible studies, 6 reported preclinical research and 12 reported clinical experiences encompassing 189 total patients with SC. The cohort age ranged from teens to 80s and was 60% (113/189) female. Sonolucent materials in clinical use are clear PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate), opaque PMMA, polyetheretherketone, and polyolefin. Overall indications included hydrocephalus (20%, 37/189), tumor (15%, 29/189), posterior fossa decompression (14%, 26/189), traumatic brain injury (11%, 20/189), bypass (27%, 52/189), intracerebral hemorrhage (4%, 7/189), ischemic stroke (3%, 5/189), aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage (3%, 5/189), subdural hematoma (2%, 4/189), and vasculitis and other bone revisions (2%, 4/189). Complications described in the entire cohort included revision or delayed scalp healing (3%, 6/189), wound infection (3%, 5/189), epidural hematoma (2%, 3/189), cerebrospinal fluid leaks (1%, 2/189), new seizure (1%, 2/189), and oncologic relapse with subsequent prosthesis removal (<1%, 1/189). Most studies utilized linear or phased array ultrasound transducers at 3-12 MHz. Sources of artifact on sonographic imaging included prosthesis curvature, pneumocephalus, plating system, and dural sealant. Reported findings were mainly qualitative. We, therefore, suggest that future studies should collect quantitative measurement data during transcranioplasty ultrasonography to validate imaging techniques.

Severe Neurologic Complications of SARS-CoV-2.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review presents an overview of the known neurocritical care complications of severe acute respiratory virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We present readers with a review of the literature of severe neurologic complications of SARS-CoV-2 and cases from our institution to illustrate these conditions. RECENT FINDINGS: Neurologic manifestations are being increasingly recognized in the literature. Some patients can have severe neurologic manifestations, though the true prevalence is unknown. SUMMARY: Severe neurologic complications of COVID-19 include large vessel occlusion ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, encephalitis, myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, status epilepticus, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. These conditions can manifest in COVID-19 patients even in the absence of risk factors and must be promptly identified as they can have a high mortality if left untreated.